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Redefining N-Bromosuccinimide: Chemistry Beyond Allylic Bromination
Pooja1, Trisha Ghatak2, Ankita1
1Department of Chemistry, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.
Abstract:
Bromination or subsequent reactions followed by bromination have become easier and more convenient after the invention of N-bromoamides. As a brominating agent, molecular bromine has limitations like decomposition, volatility, high reactivity, and toxicity. Hence, N-bromoamides have emerged as a widely used laboratory reagent for bromination. Among the other N-bromoamides, N-bromosuccinimide (also called NBS) is the most commonly used laboratory reagent. Apart from its most common use in allylic/benzylic bromination and as an electrophilic brominating agent, this reagent has paved its way through various rearrangements, hydrolysis, multicomponent reaction, C─C bond cleavage of β-keto amides, benzylic bromination, stereoselective synthesis, oxidation, catalysis, aromatization, and one-pot tandem reaction. The present review will highlight applications of NBS in organic chemistry apart from bromination. It will focus on how this reagent facilitates various chemical transformations, thereby proving its versatility beyond a mere brominating agent.
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