Tertiary halides preparation

Thioethers (sulfides) can be prepared by treatment of alkyl halides with salts of thiols (thiolate ions). The R group may be alkyl or aryl and organolithium bases can be used to deprotonate the thiol. As in 10-37, RX cannot be a tertiary halide, and sulfuric and sulfonic esters can be used instead of halides. As in the Williamson... 

Halide exchange, sometimes call the Finkelstein reaction, is an equilibrium process, but it is often possible to shift the equilibrium." The reaction is most often applied to the preparation of iodides and fluorides. Iodides can be prepared from chlorides or bromides by taking advantage of the fact that sodium iodide, but not the bromide or chloride, is soluble in acetone. When an alkyl chloride or bromide is treated with a solution of sodium iodide in acetone, the equilibrium is shifted by the precipitation of sodium chloride or bromide. Since the mechanism is Sn2, the reaction is much more successful for primary halides than for secondary or tertiary halides sodium iodide in acetone can be used as a test for primary bromides or chlorides. Tertiary chlorides can be converted to iodides by treatment with excess Nal in CS2, with ZnCl2 as catalyst. " Vinylic bromides give vinylic iodides with retention of configuration when treated with KI and a nickel bromide-zinc catalyst," or with KI and Cul in hot HMPA." ... 

The reaction of alkyl halides with metal nitrites is one of the most important methods for the preparation of nitroalkanes. As a metal nitrite, silver nitrite (Victor-Meyer reaction), potassium nitrite, or sodium nitrite (Kornblum reaction) have been frequently used. The products are usually a mixture of nitroalkanes and alkyl nitrites, which are readily separated by distillation (Eq. 2.47). The synthesis of nitro compounds by this process is well documented in the reviews, and some typical cases are listed in Table 2.3.92a Primary and secondary alkyl iodides and bromides as well as sulfonate esters give the corresponding nitro compounds in 50-70% yields on treatment with NaN02 in DMF or DMSO. Some of them are described precisely in vol 4 of Organic Synthesis. For example, 1,4-dinitrobutane is prepared in 41 -46% yield by the reaction of 1,4-diiodobutane with silver nitrite in diethyl ether.92b 1-Nitrooctane is prepared by the reaction with silver nitrite in 75-80% yield. The reaction of silver nitrite with secondary halides gives yields of nitroalkanes of about 15%, whereas with tertiary halides the yields are 0-5%.92c Ethyl a-nitrobutyrate is prepared by the reaction of ethyl a-bromobutyrate in 68-75% yield with sodium nitrite in DMF.92d Sodium nitrite is considerably more soluble in DMSO than in DMF as a consequence, with DMSO, much more concentrated solutions can be employed and this makes shorter reaction times possible.926... 

Initial attempts at preparing y,y-disubstituted allyl chlorides employing thionyl chloride in the presence of tributylamine5 led to appreciable amounts of rearranged (tertiary) halides. 

Thioethers (sulfides) can be prepared by treatment of alkyl halides with salts of thiols (thiolate ions).7S2 R may be alkyl or aryl. As in 0-35, RX cannot be a tertiary halide, and sulfuric and sulfonic esters can be used instead of halides. As in the Williamson reaction (0-12), yields are improved by phase-transfer catalysis.753 Instead of RS ions, thiols themselves can be used, if the reaction is run in benzene in the presence of DBU (p. 1023).754 Neopentyl bromide was converted to Me3CCH2SPh in good yield by treatment with PhS in liquid NH3 at -33°C under the influence of light.755 This probably takes place by an SrnI mechanism (see p. 648). Vinylic sulfides can be prepared by treating vinylic bromides with PhS in the presence of a nickel complex,756 and with R3SnPh in the presence of Pd(PPh3)4.757 R can be tertiary if an alcohol is the substrate, e.g,758... 

Salts of sulfonic acids can be prepared by treatment of primary or secondary alkyl halides with sulfite ion,799 Even tertiary halides have been used, though the yields are low. Epoxides treated with bisulfite give 3-hydroxy sulfonic acids. ... 

The cyanide ion is an ambident nucleophile and isocyanides may be side products. If the preparation of isocyanides is desired, they can be made the main products by the use of silver or copper(I) cyanide1577 (p. 368). Vinylic bromides can be converted to vinylic cyanides with CuCN,1578 with KCN, a crown ether, and a Pd(0) complex,1579 with KCN and a Ni(0) catalyst,15 1 or with K4Ni2(CN)6.1581 Tertiary halides can be converted to the corresponding nitriles by treatment with trimethylsilyl cyanide in the presence of catalytic amounts of SnCl4 RjCCl + Me3SiCN — R3CCN.1582... 

Dehalogenation. Barton et at. (1, 148) effected dehalogenation of steroidal /i-hydroxy halides with chromium(II) acetate and butancthiol as the proton donor in DMSO. The method is only useful with tertiary halides. A recent improvement that permits reduction of halides of all types uses the ethylenediamine complex of CrtCIOzh and the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of the /J-hydroxy halide. Catalytic amounts of the reducing agent can be used in "indirect electrolysis." The reaction is convenient for preparation of deoxynucleosides.1... 

Classically, primary nitroalkanes may be prepared by heating the alkyl bromide (or iodide) but not the chloride, with silver nitrite, frequently in anhydrous ether. The method is not satisfactory with secondary or tertiary halides, when the major products are the alkyl nitrites. 

This method is clearly expensive, and nowadays the cheaper sodium nitrite is employed with the alkyl halide in dimethyl sulphoxide or dimethylformamide as solvent.197 Although the yields are a little lower than in the silver nitrite method, a further feature is that secondary halides may be converted into secondary nitroalkanes, although even this modification fails with tertiary halides. The reaction is illustrated by the preparation of 2-nitrooctane (Expt 5.189). 

Mono- and di-alkylacetylenes are prepared from sodium alkydes and primary alkyl halides which lack branching on the second carbon atom. The branched primary halides as well as secondary and tertiary halides undergo dehydrohalogenation to olefins by the basic alkyde. The alkydes are best prepared from the acetylenes and sodium amide in liquid ammonia.The yields of 1-alkynes are frequently 70-90% when alkyl bromides are employed as alkylating agents. Dialkylacetylenes... 

Reactive halogen compounds such as benzyl chloride, 2-thenyl chloride, 2-bromoacetylthiophene, (C HjS)COCH,Br , and 2-chloromethyl-thianaphthene (C,H5S)CHjCl are readily converted to esters by treatment with the sodium salts of carboxylic acids. A small amount of tri-ethylamine has proved to be an effective catalyst. Acetates are oftentimes made by heating halides with fused sodium acetate in glacial acetic acid, e.g., p-ethylbenzyl acetate (93%). The reaction is of little value for the preparation of simple aliphatic esters. Secondary and tertiary halides give increasing amounts of olefin by dehydro-halogenation. 

This reaction has wide application for the preparation of esters. The difficulties encountered in method 285 because of a reversible reaction are avoided. Esters of tertiary alcohols and phenols are best prepared in this way. The formation of tertiary halides from tertiary alcohols is prevented by carrying out the reaction in the presence of powdered magnesium or dimethylaniline which react with the hydrogen chloride as it is formed. The esterification of phenols is effected in the same manner. Magnesium or pyridine is added to combine with the hydrogen halide. Pyridine has replaced aqueous alkali formerly used for this purpose... 

A zinc-modifled cyanoborohydride reagent, prepared in situ by the reaction of sodium borohydride with zinc chloride in ether, reduces tertiary halides in high yields, whereas primary and secondary halides remain intact. Similar reactivity is observed with lithium 9,9-di-n-butyl-9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]-nonanate (4), as shown in equation (5). ... 

MALDI spectrum of a hydroxyl functional polymer prepared by GTP the level of the impurity is easily seen and the success of this reaction clearly observed. However, this is not a universally applicable technique. Perhaps the most topical living polymerisation at present is transition metal mediated radical polymerization. This typically gives a polymer with a tertiary halide terminal group. This group, as has nitroxide, has been found to be very labile in the mass spectrometer leading to fragmentation. 

Sodium sulfhydride (NaSH) is a much better reagent for the formation of thiols (mercaptans) from alkyl halides than H2S and is used much more often. It is easily prepared by bubbling H2S into an alkaline solution, but hydrosulfide on a supported polymer resin has also been used. " The reaction is most useful for primary halides. Secondary substrates give much lower yields, and the reaction fails completely for tertiary halides because elimination predominates. Sulfuric and sulfonic esters can be used instead of halides. Thioethers (RSR) are often side products. The conversion can also be accomplished under neutral conditions by treatment of a primary halide with F and a tin sulfide, such as PhsSnSSnPhs. An indirect method for the preparation of a thiol is the reaction of an alkyl halide with thiourea to give an isothiuronium salt (119), and subsequent treatment with alkali or a... 

Sodium nitrite can be used to prepare nitro compounds from primary or secondary alkyl bromides or iodides, but the method is of limited scope. Silver nitrite gives nitro compounds only when RX is a primary bromide or iodide.Nitrite esters are an important side product in all these cases (10-22) and become the major product (by an S l mechanism) when secondary or tertiary halides are treated with silver nitrite. Alkyl nitro compounds can be prepared from the alkyl halide via the corresponding azide, by treatment with HOF in acetonitrile. 

Reduction of alkyl halides. LiAlH, is satisfactory for reduction of primary and secondary halides or tosylates to the hydrocarbons, but in the case of a tertiary halide the product is predominantly the olefin. Alkyl halides and tosylates, even tertiary, are reduced in good to high yield by sodium borohydride in 65% aqueous diglyme. When a relatively stable carbonium ion incapable of elimination is formed, yields are high, but yields are still satisfactory when elimination is possible. The reaction is very slow in the absence of water. A homogeneous solution required for kinetic studies is prepared from 80% (volume) aqueous diglyme, which can be made 1.80 M in the reagent. 

Both trans- and cis-a-chlorodecalin are reduced by tri-n-butyltin hydride to the same mixture of trans- and ri.v-dccalin in which the trans isomer predominates. Greene and Lowry13 note that this method is useful for reduction of tertiary halides it is particularly valuable for preparation of specifically labeled deuterated or tritiated compounds. 

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