Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 23, 2026

Synthesis and Purification of Iodoaziridines Involving Quantitative Selection of the Optimal Stationary Phase for Chromatography
Published on: May 16, 2014
Indium-catalyzed direct chlorination of alcohols using chlorodimethylsilane-benzil as a selective and mild system
Makoto Yasuda1, Satoshi Yamasaki, Yoshiyuki Onishi
1Department of Molecular Chemistry and Handai Frontier Research Center, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
Abstract:
The InCl3-catalyzed reaction of alcohols with chlorodimethylsilane (HSiMe2Cl) in the presence of benzil gave the corresponding organic chlorides under mild conditions. Benzil significantly changes the reaction course because the reducing product through dehydroxyhydration was obtained in the absence of benzil. The secondary or tertiary alcohols were effectively chlorinated. The substrates bearing acid-sensitive functional groups were also applied to this system. The highly selective chlorination of the tertiary site was observed in the competitive reaction between tertiary and primary alcohols. The highly coordinated hydrosilane generated from benzil and HSiMe2Cl is an important intermediate.
Related Concept Videos
Preparation of Alcohols via Addition Reactions
The acid-catalyzed addition of water to the double bond of alkenes is a large-scale industrial method used to synthesize low-molecular-weight alcohols. An acidic atmosphere is required to allow the hydrogen in the water molecule to act as an electrophile and attack the double bond in an alkene. The addition of a proton to the double bond creates a carbocation intermediate. The proton preferentially bonds to the less substituted end of the double bond to create a more stable carbocation...
Protection of Alcohols
Protection
It defines a protecting group as the masking agent to make the more reactive species inert to a given set of conditions. This concept is depicted via the illustration of liquid flow through different outlets in an assembly of pipes. The analogy helps to understand the role...
Conversion of Alcohols to Alkyl Halides
Acid Halides to Ketones: Gilman Reagent
As shown below, the mechanism proceeds in two steps. First, one of the alkyl groups of the reagent acts as a nucleophile and attacks the acyl carbon of the acid chloride to form a tetrahedral intermediate. This is followed by the reformation of the carbon–oxygen double...
Alkenes via Reductive Coupling of Aldehydes or Ketones: McMurry Reaction
Ketones with Nonenolizable Aromatic Aldehydes: Claisen–Schmidt Condensation
As the self-condensation of ketones is generally not favored in basic conditions, the self-condensed products do not form in the reaction between ketones and benzaldehyde. The general reaction of Claisen–Schmidt condensation is...

