Sciencemadness Discussion Board

FC alkylation?

chemist1243 - 17-12-2019 at 08:51

ive been trying to find info on how the FC alkylation is carried out in practice, but i can only find mechanisms for the reaction and explanations on how it works, not actual examples of the reaction.

lets say we have benzene and ethyl chloride, as well as AlCl3 catalyst. how would ethylbenzene be made from these products? what conditions are necessary for the reaction to take place?

any and all advice and info would be appreciated.

Pumukli - 17-12-2019 at 10:03

If your goal is ethylbenzene then forget FC alkylation. It produces a mixture (due to "overalkylation").

You should start from acetophenone and reduce it Wolff-Kishner way. Or something like that.

To have acetophenone you can FC ACYLATE benzene with acetyl-chloride and AlCl3. FC acylations are much better than alkylations because they are self-limiting: only one acyl group enters the molecule and there are no" over acylations")

(Of course, it is a bit more complicated than this, but for starters it is good enough.)

DraconicAcid - 17-12-2019 at 11:48

I have a good prep for t-butylation of biphenyl with FeCl3 as a catalyst. You don't get over-alkylation, because the group is too bulky. Now, can I find it?

This isn't the one, but the use of aluminum to generate anhydrous AlCl3 in situ is neat:
https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~jmlvll/lab-reports/friedelCraf...

[Edited on 17-12-2019 by DraconicAcid]

chemist1243 - 17-12-2019 at 13:00

Quote: Originally posted by Pumukli  
If your goal is ethylbenzene then forget FC alkylation. It produces a mixture (due to "overalkylation").

You should start from acetophenone and reduce it Wolff-Kishner way. Or something like that.

To have acetophenone you can FC ACYLATE benzene with acetyl-chloride and AlCl3. FC acylations are much better than alkylations because they are self-limiting: only one acyl group enters the molecule and there are no" over acylations")

(Of course, it is a bit more complicated than this, but for starters it is good enough.)


would a FC acylation of benzene with chloroacetone be a good start?

[Edited on 17-12-2019 by chemist1243]

DraconicAcid - 17-12-2019 at 13:01

You can't acylate benzene with chloroacetone- it's not an acyl halide. You can use acetyl chloride instead.

dextro88 - 17-12-2019 at 15:53

you can do it, buts its low yield reaction, and you gona end up with phenylacetone wich is pretty illegal....

DavidJR - 17-12-2019 at 15:58

Quote: Originally posted by dextro88  
you can do it, buts its low yield reaction, and you gona end up with phenylacetone wich is pretty illegal....


No, you're missing the point. You can't acylate anything with chloroacetone. You can alkylate benzene with chloroacetone though.

fusso - 17-12-2019 at 18:53

Quote: Originally posted by DavidJR  
No, you're missing the point. You can't acylate anything with chloroacetone. You can alkylate benzene with chloroacetone though.
Fixed the format for ya.

DavidJR - 17-12-2019 at 19:52

It wasn't actually broken...

chemist1243 - 18-12-2019 at 05:51

Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid  
You can't acylate benzene with chloroacetone- it's not an acyl halide. You can use acetyl chloride instead.


oooh, so you're saying that if the chlorine on the molecule is not directly bonded to the carbonyl carbon, then the proposed molecule cant participate in FC ACYLATION, only AKYLATION?

what are some easy to obtain/make acyl chlorides? im starting to get interesting in working with them, particularly by starting with benzene and working my way up to bigger molecules, so after acylation it shouldnt be terribly difficult to just go from there and make bigger molecules.

DavidJR - 18-12-2019 at 07:03

Acid anhydrides can also be used for FC acylation.

Tsjerk - 18-12-2019 at 08:01

Quote: Originally posted by chemist1243  
Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid  
You can't acylate benzene with chloroacetone- it's not an acyl halide. You can use acetyl chloride instead.


oooh, so you're saying that if the chlorine on the molecule is not directly bonded to the carbonyl carbon, then the proposed molecule cant participate in FC ACYLATION, only AKYLATION?

what are some easy to obtain/make acyl chlorides? im starting to get interesting in working with them, particularly by starting with benzene and working my way up to bigger molecules, so after acylation it shouldnt be terribly di
fficult to just go from there and make bigger molecules.


Edit :have to think twice, will be back

[Edited on 18-12-2019 by Tsjerk]