Weak electrophile

Acyl cations are relatively weak electrophiles. This is easily understood, because their structure is of a predominantly linear carboxon-ium ion nature, with the neighboring oxygen atom delocalizing charge and limiting their carbocationic nature. 

The selectivity of an electrophile, measured by the extent to which it discriminated either between benzene and toluene, or between the meta- and ara-positions in toluene, was considered to be related to its reactivity. Thus, powerful electrophiles, of which the species operating in Friedel-Crafts alkylation reactions were considered to be examples, would be less able to distinguish between compounds and positions than a weakly electrophilic reagent. The ultimate electrophilic species would be entirely insensitive to the differences between compounds and positions, and would bring about reaction in the statistical ratio of the various sites for substitution available to it. The idea has gained wide acceptance that the electrophiles operative in reactions which have low selectivity factors Sf) or reaction constants (p+), are intrinsically more reactive than the effective electrophiles in reactions which have higher values of these parameters. However, there are several aspects of this supposed relationship which merit discussion. 

Reactions of aromatic and heteroaromatic rings are usually only found with highly reactive compounds containing strongly electron donating substituents or hetero atoms (e.g. phenols, anilines, pyrroles, indoles). Such molecules can be substituted by weak electrophiles, and the reagent of choice in nature as well as in the laboratory is usually a Mannich reagent or... 

Nitrosyl cation is a relatively weak electrophile and attacks only very strongly activated aromatic rings... 

A diazonium salt is a weak electrophile, and thus reacts only with highly electron-rich species such as amino and hydroxy compounds. Even hydroxy compounds must be ionized for reaction to occur. Consequendy, hydroxy compounds such as phenols and naphthols are coupled in an alkaline medium (pH > of phenol or naphthol typically pH 7—11), whereas aromatic amines such as N,N diaLkylamines are coupled in a slightly acid medium, typically pH 1—5. This provides optimum stabiUty for the dia2onium salt (stable in acid) without deactivating the nucleophile (protonation of the amine). 

Some weak electrophilic reagents, which are usually inert toward azoles, also react with quaternized azoles. Diazonium salts yield phenylhydrazones (Scheme 48) in a reaction analogous to the Japp-Klingemann transformation of /S-keto esters into phenylhydrazones in the dithiolylium series illustrated the product has bicyclic character. Cyanine dye preparations fall under this heading (see also Section 4.02.1.6.5). Monomethine cyanines are formed by reaction with an iodo quaternary salt, e.g. Scheme 49. Tri- and penta-methinecar-bocyanines (384 n = 1 and 2, respectively) are obtained by the reaction of two molecules of a quaternary salt with one molecule of ethyl orthoformate (384 n = 1) or/S-ethoxyacrolein acetal (384 n =2), respectively. 

Among the reagents that are classified as weak electrophiles, the best studied are the aromatic diazonium ions, which reagents react only with aromatic substrates having strong electron-donor substituents. The products are azo compounds. The aryl diazonium ions are usually generated by diazotization of aromatic amines. The mechanism of diazonium ion formation is discussed more completely in Section 11.2.1 of Part B. 

Because of the limited range of aromatic compounds that react with diazonium ions, selectivity data comparable to those discussed for other electrophilic substitutions are not available. Because diazotization involves a weak electrophile, it would be expected to reveal high substrate and position selectivity. 

While A -dimethylaniline is an extremely reactive aromatic substrate and is readily attacked by such weak electrophiles as aiyl diazonium ions and nitrosonium ion, this reactivity is greatly diminished by introduction of an alkyl substituent in the ortho position. Explain. 

A reaction of aryl diazonium salts that does not involve loss of nitrogen takes place when they react with phenols and arylanines. Aryl diazonium ions are relatively weak electrophiles but have sufficient reactivity to attack strongly activated aromatic rings. The reaction is known as azo coupling two aryl groups are joined together by an azo (—N=N—) function. 

Isoxazoles are known at present to undergo the following electrophilic substitution reactions nitration, sulfonation, halogenation, chloroalkylation, hydroxymethylation, and mercuration. Repeated attempts to effect the Friedel-Crafts reaction in the isoxazole series in the authors laboratory failed. The isoxazole nucleus seems not active enough to react with weak electrophilic reagents. 

Arenediazonium ions are relatively weak electrophiles, and therefore react only with electron-rich aromatic substrates like aryl amines and phenols. Aromatic compounds like anisole, mesitylene, acylated anilines or phenolic esters are ordinarily not reactive enough to be suitable substrates however they may be coupled... 

The term coupling component referred originally to aromatic hydrocarbons, particularly benzene and naphthalene derivatives, which were required to have a hydroxy or an amino group as a substituent (sometimes, but not necessarily, accompanied by other substituents such as sulfonic acid groups). The presence of the hydroxy or amino group increases the C-nucleophilicity of the coupling component. In most cases this is a necessary requirement because the diazo components are relatively weak electrophiles. If the coupling component is phenol or a derivative of phenol ... 

Kishimoto et al. (1974, 1981) found a general acid catalysis by protonated pyridines in coupling reactions of the 1-naphthoxide ion if weakly electrophilic diazonium ions were used. In this case it is likely that the general acid protonates the carbonyl oxygen of the o-complex, with a concerted or stepwise deprotonation at the 4-position (transition stage 12.150). 

The diazonium ion is a very weak electrophile since the positive charge can be delocalised into the aromatic ring, and its reactivity is modified by substituents... 

In contrast to aldehydes, simple ketones are poor substrates for Fe-catalyzed olefinations due to their weak electrophilicity. Decreasing the electron density of carbonyl group can facilitate olefination of ketones with diazo compounds. 

This is, however, a weak electrophile compared with species such as N02 and will normally only attack highly reactive aromatic compounds such as phenols and amines it is thus without effect on the otherwise highly reactive PhOMe. Introduction of electron-withdrawing groups into the o- or p-positions of the diazonium cation enhances its electrophilic character, however, by increasing the positive charge on the diazo group ... 

A further interesting, and synthetically useful, reaction of carbanions— and of organometallic compounds acting as sources of negative carbon—is addition to the very weak electrophile C02, to form the corresponding carboxylate anion (36)—carbonation ... 

It is well known that strong electrophiles such as carbocations are reduced by organosilicon hydrides (Eq. 1).3,70,71 On the other hand, simple mixtures of organosilicon hydrides and compounds with weakly electrophilic carbon centers such as ketones and aldehydes are normally unreactive unless the electrophilicity of the carbon center is enhanced by complexation of the carbonyl oxygen with Brpnsted acids3,70 73 or certain Lewis acids (Eq. 2).1,70,71,74,75 Using these acids, hydride transfer from the silicon center to carbon may then occur to give either alcohol-related or hydrocarbon products. 

The vanillin method is based on the condensation of the vanillin reagent with proanthocyanidins in acidic solutions. Protonated vanillin, a weak electrophilic radical, reacts with the flavonoid ring at the 6- or 8-position. The vanillin reaction is affected by the acidic nature and concentrations of substrate, the reaction time, the temperature, the vanillin concentration, and water content (Sun and others 1998). 

Treatment of alkylidene-bridged zirconium—aluminum species with HMPA activates the C—A1 bond of the alkylidene unit, making it susceptible to electrophilic attack [146]. Ligand-based activation of the C—A1 bond can also be used to convert alkylidene-bridged zirconium-aluminum reagents to other bimetallic species. Thus, treatment of 3 with HMPA followed by addition of a weakly electrophilic metal salt can give rise to a new heterome-tallic species. Slow addition of a solution of R3SnCl in toluene to a solution of 3 and 1... 

This reactivity enables t/tro-substitution to be carried out at a specific position in the ring, irrespective of the presence of other contra-directing groups, and it allows the reaction to be carried out under mild conditions, or with weak electrophiles such as diazonium ions.2 Recent additions to the extensive list of electrophiles that have been used are toluene />-sulfonylisocyanate and ethoxycarbonyl isocyanate (Equation (53)),176 sulfonyl chloride,177 arene178 and silane sulfonyl chlorides,179 and dichloromethyl methyl ether (Equation (54)).1... 

Allylstannanes are unreactive toward weakly electrophilic enones such as cyclohexenone, but enone additions have been established with the more electrophilic 2-ethoxycarbonylallylstannane (Equation (108)).290... 

A disadvantage of the traditional synthesis of A -alkyl-A -tosylhydrazones, particularly in the reaction of the tosylhydrazine with weakly electrophilic carbonyl compounds, is the instability of the hydrazine under the reaction conditions. However, A -alkylation of the tosylhydrazone (Table 5.23) under weakly basic condi-... 

Qualitative spot tests for aldehydes, in the presence of ketones, are generally only reliable for water-soluble compounds. This problem can be overcome by the use of 4-amino-3-hydrazino-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole (Purpald , Aldrich Chemical Company) in the presence of Aliquat (Scheme 5.27). Under aerial oxidation, the initially formed colourless cyclic adduct changes colour through red to purple. The colourless cyclic aminal can also be formed by ketones, but only the adducts derived from the aldehydes are oxidized to the purple bicyclic aromatic system [28]. Weakly electrophilic aldehydes, e.g., 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, reacts slowly, but will give the positive coloration upon gentle heating to ca. 70°C for one or two minutes. 

The syntheses of a variety of "multi-site" phase-transfer catalysts (PTCs) and the determination of their catalytic activity toward some simple Sn2 reactions and some weak nucleophile-weak electrophile SnAr reactions are described. In general, at the same molar ratio, the "multi-site" PTCs are as or more effective than similar "single-site" PTCs. Thus, the "multi-site" PTCs offer an economy of scale compared to "single-site" PTCs. 

The sydnone ring has also been used as an ortho-director of lithiation. Thus, on reaction with Bu Li-TMEDA, 3-phenylsydnone has been found to form a dilithio species which can be regiospecifically acylated at the ort/io-position by a weak electrophile. 

The Vilsmeier-Haack reagent, a chloroiminium salt, is a weak electrophile. Therefore, the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction works better with electron-rich carbocycles and heterocycles. 

Phenoxide ion generated by treating phenol with sodium hydroxide is even more reactive than phenol towards electrophilic aromatic substitution. Hence, it undergoes electrophilic substitution with carbon dioxide, a weak electrophile. Ortho hydroj benzoic acid is formed as the main reaction product. 

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