Thallation, mechanism

Mercuration of aromatic compounds can be accomplished with mercuric salts, most often Hg(OAc)2 ° to give ArHgOAc. This is ordinary electrophilic aromatic substitution and takes place by the arenium ion mechanism (p. 675). ° Aromatic compounds can also be converted to arylthallium bis(trifluoroacetates), ArTl(OOCCF3)2, by treatment with thallium(III) trifluoroacetate in trifluoroace-tic acid. ° These arylthallium compounds can be converted to phenols, aryl iodides or fluorides (12-28), aryl cyanides (12-31), aryl nitro compounds, or aryl esters (12-30). The mechanism of thallation appears to be complex, with electrophilic and electron-transfer mechanisms both taking place. 

A simple, high-yield procedure for the conversion of ArTlXj into ArjTlX compounds has recently been described 90). This symmetrization reaction, the mechanism of which is not known, can be effected by treatment of the ArTlX2 compound either with triethyl phosphite or with hot aqueous acetone. As a wide variety of ArTlXj compounds can now be easily prepared by electrophilic thallation of aromatic substrates with thallium(III) trifluoroacetate (q. v.), symmetrization represents the method of choice for the preparation of the majority of ArjTlX compounds. Only about twenty mixed compounds, RR TIX, have been prepared so far, and the only general synthetic procedure available consists of a disproportionation reaction between an RTIX2 species and another organometallic reagent [e.g., Eqs. (5)-(7)]. 

Yields in the above reactions can often be improved by the addition of 1 mole of triphenylphosphine directly to the trifluoroacetic acid solution of the reactants immediately before final work-up. It would appear that the triphenylphosphine functions as a scavenger for TTFA released in the metal-metal exchange reaction, thus protecting the final phenol from further electrophilic thallation and/or oxidation. Validation of the metal-metal exchange mechanism was obtained indirectly by isolation and characterization of an ArTlX2/LTTFA complex directly from the reaction mixture. NMR analysis revealed that this complex still possessed an intact aryl-thallium bond, indicating that it was probably the precursor to the transmetallation products, an aryllead tristrifluoroacetate and TTFA. 

The recently reported (757) conversion of 5-pyrazolones directly to a,j8-acetylenic esters by treatment with TTN in methanol appears to be an example of thallation of a heterocyclic enamine the suggested mechanism involves initial electrophilic thallation of the 3-pyrazolin-5-one tautomer of the 5-pyrazolone to give an intermediate organothallium compound which undergoes a subsequent oxidation by a second equivalent of TTN to give a diazacyclopentadienone. Solvolysis by methanol, with concomitant elimination of nitrogen and thallium(I), yields the a,)S-acetylenic ester in excellent (78-95%) yield (Scheme 35). Since 5-pyrazolones may be prepared in quantitative yield by the reaction of /3-keto esters with hydrazine (168), this conversion represents in a formal sense the dehydration of /3-keto esters. In fact, the direct conversion of /3-keto esters to a,jS-acetylenic esters without isolation of the intermediate 5-pyrazolones can be achieved by treatment in methanol solution first with hydrazine and then with TTN. 

Under the same reaction conditions, -keto esters which have been alkylated on the a-carbon atom (thus leading to 3,4-disubstituted 5-pyrazolones upon treatment with hydrazine) give allenic esters in good (50-70%) yield (158). The mechanism (Scheme 36) again appears to involve thallation of the enamine tautomer of the 5 -pyrazolone, but deprotonation now takes place... 

The study of mercuration and thallation provides a shaip focus on the experimental delineation of stepwise and concerted mechanisms for arene activation. Thus the unequivoc demonstration of arene radical cations as key intermediates in thallation, particularly of durene and pentamethylbenzene, is consistent with a stepwise (electron-transfer) mechanism for arene activation (compare Scheme 6 and equation 39). 

Accordingly, a reaction mechanism has been proposed [113] which includes one-electron transfer from the arene donor to the high-valent metal within the EDA complex as the critical first step toward mercuration or thallation, (Eq. 27) ... 

One important mechanism for homogeneous catalytic activation of aromatic C—H bonds is electrophilic attack by transition-metal complexes on the aromatic substrates. It is presumed t -aryl complexes are important intermediates in these reactions, but they are rarely isolated. Direct electrophilic metallation of aromatic substrates is closely related to reactions observed with nontransition metals ( 5.6., auration 5.7.2., mercuration and 5.3., thallation - ). References to metal-aryl complexes synthesized by electrophilic attack on arenes by transition metals are sununarized in Table 1. Reviews are available " . 

Controlled fluorination of benzene is difficult, but it can be accomplished by a two-step thallation procedure. Benzene reacts with thallium tris(trifluoroacetate), TI(0C0CF3)3, to give an organothallium intermediate. Further reaction with potassium fluoride and boron trifluoride gives the aryl fluoride. Propose a mechanism for the first step, the thallation of benzene. 

Qualitatively similar mechanisms may be written for a host of other electrophilic substitutions such as sulfonation, halogenation, Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation, and thallation. Weaker electrophiles such as molecular halogens and alkyl halides may need activation by a Lewis acid such as AICI3, as shown below, a point we will discuss in Section 3.1 ... 

We won t write a mechanism for the formation of the organothallium intermediate it forms via thallation of the enol form of acetophenone, and we urge you to write out the details. A triflate anion, which got kicked out in the first step, then displaces the thallium, which simultaneously undergoes reductive elimination to produce Tl OTf ... 

The mechanism of this reaction is a bit more complex than the one above, so it s all right if you want to skip it on first reading The first few steps are expected to involve thallation of the enol form of the ketone ... 

---