Regioselective Direct C-H Phosphorylation of Benzofulvenes

All ortho–para directors, excluding halogens, are activating groups. These groups donate electrons to the ring, making the ring carbons electron-rich. Consequently, the reactivity of the aromatic ring towards electrophilic substitution increases. For instance, the nitration of anisole is about 10,000 times faster than the nitration of benzene. The electron-donating effect of the methoxy group in anisole activates the ortho and para positions on the ring and stabilizes the corresponding...

Bromination and chlorination of aromatic rings by electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions are easily achieved, but fluorination and iodination are difficult to achieve. Fluorine is so reactive that its reaction with benzene is difficult to control, resulting in poor yields of monofluoroaromatic products. To address this, Selectfluor reagent is used as a fluorine source in which a fluorine atom is bonded to a positively charged nitrogen.

Substituents on the benzene ring that direct an incoming electrophile to undergo substitution at the meta position are called meta directors. All meta directors either have a positive charge on the atom directly bonded to the ring or a partial positive charge. These groups function by withdrawing electrons from the ring through inductive and resonance effects. Consider the carbocation intermediates formed upon the addition of an electrophile on nitrobenzene at the...

When disubstituted benzenes undergo electrophilic substitution, the product distribution depends on the directing effect of both substituents. When the directing effects of both substituents reinforce each other, a single product is obtained. For example, bromination of p-nitrotoluene occurs ortho to the methyl group and meta to the nitro group, which is the same position, resulting in a single product. However, if the directing effects of the two groups oppose each other, the...

All meta-directing substituents are deactivating groups. These substituents withdraw electrons from the aromatic ring, making the ring less reactive toward electrophilic substitution. For example, the nitration of nitrobenzene is 100,000 times slower than that of benzene because of the deactivating effect of the nitro group. The first step in an electrophilic aromatic substitution is the addition of an electrophile to form a resonance-stabilized carbocation. The energy diagrams for...

In the presence of organic peroxides, the addition of hydrogen bromide to an alkene yields the isomer that is not predicted by Markovnikov’s rule. For example, the addition of hydrogen bromide to 2-methylpropene in the presence of peroxides gives 1-bromo-2-methylpropane. This addition reaction proceeds via a free radical mechanism, which reverses the regioselectivity. The free radical reaction mechanism involves three stages: initiation, propagation, and termination.