Formyl Radical Generation from α-Chloro N-Methoxyphthalimides Enables Selective Aldehyde Synthesis

Dan Liu1, Kai Yang2, Di Fang1

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Products Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road, Shanghai, 200032, China.

Related Concept Videos

Preparation of 1° Amines: Gabriel Synthesis01:28

Preparation of 1° Amines: Gabriel Synthesis

Direct alkylation is not a suitable method for synthesizing amines because it produces polyalkylated products. Gabriel synthesis is the most preferred method to exclusively make primary amines. The method uses phthalimide, which contains a protected form of nitrogen that participates in alkylation only once to predominantly give primary amines.
Strong bases like NaOH or KOH deprotonate the phthalimide to form the corresponding anion, which acts as a nucleophile. Further, the anion attacks an...
3.7K
Radical Substitution: Allylic Chlorination01:31

Radical Substitution: Allylic Chlorination

Typically, when alkenes react with halogens at low temperatures, an addition reaction occurs. However, upon increasing the temperature or under reaction conditions that form radicals, providing a low but steady concentration of halogen radicals, allylic substitution reaction is favored. This is because allylic hydrogens are very reactive as the formed intermediate is resonance stabilized. For example, when propene is treated with chlorine in the gas phase at 400 °C, it undergoes allylic...
2.3K
Radical Substitution: Halogenation of Alkanes and Alkyl Substituents01:27

Radical Substitution: Halogenation of Alkanes and Alkyl Substituents

In the presence of heat or light, alkanes react with molecular halogens to form alkyl halides by a substitution reaction called radical halogenation. This reaction has three steps: initiation, propagation, and termination, as seen in the radical chlorination of methane to produce methyl chloride.
In the initiation step of the reaction, the chlorine molecule undergoes homolytic cleavage in the presence of light or heat, forming two highly reactive chlorine radicals. Propagation occurs in two...
8.3K
Acid-Catalyzed α-Halogenation of Aldehydes and Ketones01:21

Acid-Catalyzed α-Halogenation of Aldehydes and Ketones

By replacing an α-hydrogen with a halogen, acid-catalyzed α-halogenation of aldehydes or ketones yields a monohalogenated product
In the first step of the mechanism, the acid protonates the carbonyl oxygen resulting in a resonance-stabilized cation, which subsequently loses an α-hydrogen to form an enol tautomer. The C=C bond in an enol is highly nucleophilic because of the electron-donating nature of the –OH group. Consequently, the double bond attacks an electrophilic halogen to form a...
4.0K
Base-Promoted α-Halogenation of Aldehydes and Ketones00:51

Base-Promoted α-Halogenation of Aldehydes and Ketones

α-Halogenation of aldehydes and ketones is a reaction involving the substitution of α hydrogens with halogens in the presence of a base.  The reaction begins with the abstraction of  α hydrogen by the base to produce a nucleophilic enolate ion. This intermediate undergoes a subsequent nucleophilic substitution with the halogen to produce a monohalogenated carbonyl compound. If the starting substrate has more than one α hydrogen, it is difficult to stop the reaction...
3.6K
Acetals and Thioacetals as Protecting Groups for Aldehydes and Ketones01:24

Acetals and Thioacetals as Protecting Groups for Aldehydes and Ketones

Acetals are formed by reacting two equivalents of alcohol with carbonyl compounds like aldehydes or ketones. Acetals are unaffected by bases, nucleophiles, oxidizing agents, and reducing agents. They serve as protecting groups for aldehydes and ketones. Acetals can be easily formed and also easily removed via mild acid hydrolysis.
In the presence of multiple functional groups, when selective reduction of one group over the other is desired, groups like aldehydes and ketones that form acetals...
4.4K