Unmasking Amides: Ruthenium-Catalyzed Protodecarbonylation of N-Substituted Phthalimide Derivatives

The Wittig reaction, which converts aldehydes or ketones to alkenes using phosphorus ylides, proceeds through a nucleophilic addition‒elimination process.
The reaction begins with the nucleophilic addition between a phosphorus ylide and the carbonyl compound. Due to its carbanionic character,  phosphorus ylide acts as a strong nucleophile and attacks the electrophilic carbonyl group. This generates a charge-separated dipolar intermediate called betaine. The negatively charged oxygen atom and...

The Wittig reaction is the conversion of carbonyl compounds-aldehydes and ketones-to alkenes using phosphorus ylides, or the Wittig reagent. The reaction was pioneered by Prof. Georg Wittig, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

One of the common methods to prepare nitriles is the dehydration of amides. This method requires strong dehydrating agents like phosphorous pentoxide or boiling acetic anhydride for converting amides to nitriles. Another reagent namely, thionyl chloride also accomplishes the dehydration of amides, where amide acts as a nucleophile. The first step of the mechanism involves the nucleophilic attack by the amide on the thionyl chloride to form an intermediate. In the next step, the electron pairs...

Recently, the development of olefin metathesis polymerization advanced the field of polymer synthesis. Simply put, the reorganization of substituents on their double bonds between two olefins in the presence of a catalyst is known as the olefin metathesis reaction. The use of metathesis reaction for polymer synthesis is called olefin metathesis polymerization.
Ruthenium-based Grubbs catalyst is the most commonly used catalyst for olefin metathesis polymerization. Grubbs catalyst consists of a...

The method to achieve α-brominated carboxylic acids using a mixture of phosphorus tribromide and bromine is known as the Hell–Volhard–Zelinski reaction. The reaction is catalyzed by phosphorus tribromide, which can be used directly or produced in situ from red phosphorus and bromine. The mechanism comprises PBr3 catalyzed conversion of acid to acid bromide and hydrogen bromide. The acid bromide enolizes to its enol form in the presence of HBr. The nucleophilic enol attacks the...

Radical substitution reactions can be used to remove functional groups from molecules. The hydrogenolysis of alkyl halides is one such reaction, where the weak Sn–H bond in tributyltin hydride reacts with alkyl halides to form alkanes. Here, the reagent Bu3SnH yields tributyltin halide as a byproduct.
The bonds formed in this reaction are stronger than the bonds broken, making it energetically favorable. The reaction follows a radical chain mechanism similar to radical halogenation reactions,...