Thallium reagents reactions with aromatic compounds

The aryl-thallium bond is thus apparently capable of displacement either by electrophilic or by suitable nucleophilic reagents. Coupled with its propensity for homolytic cleavage (spontaneous in the case of ArTlIj compounds, and otherwise photochemically induced), ArTlXj compounds should be capable of reacting with a wide variety of reagents under a wide variety of conditions. Since the position of initial aromatic thallation can be controlled to a remarkable degree, the above reactions may be only representative of a remarkably versatile route to aromatic substitution reactions in which organothallium compounds play a unique and indispensable role. 

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)]. 

The electrophilic substitution is the most characteristic reaction for these classes of compounds. Compound (21) undergoes standard electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions. Thus it forms the 6-bromo compound (58) with A7-bromosuccinimide and 6,7-dibromo compound (72) with the excess of the same reagent. It also forms the 6-nitro compound (67) with copper(II) nitrate trihydrate and 6,7-dinitro compound (68) with excess of nitronium tetrafluoroborate. The bis(trifluoro-acetoxy)thallium derivative (73) was formed from trithiadiazepine (21) and thallium(III) trifluoro-acetate in refluxing acetonitrile. Without isolation, (73) was directly converted into the pale yellow 6-iodo compound (74) with aqueous potassium iodide, into the 6-cyano compound (75) with copper(I) cyanide, and into methyl trithiadiazepine-6-carboxylate (76) with carbon monoxide and methanol in the presence of palladium chloride, lithium chloride, and magnesium oxide. Compound (21) is acetylated in the presence of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (Scheme 7) <85CC396,87JCS(P1)217, 91JCS(P1)2945>. 

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