The Meerwein arylation is an organic reaction involving the addition of an

aryl In organic chemistry, an aryl is any functional group or substituent derived from an aromaticity, aromatic ring, usually an aromatic hydrocarbon, such as phenyl and naphthyl. "Aryl" is used for the sake of abbreviation or generalization, and "Ar ...

diazonium Diazonium compounds or diazonium salts are a group of organic compounds sharing a common functional group where R can be any organic group, such as an alkyl or an aryl, and X is an inorganic or organic anion, such as a halide. General properti ...

salt (ArN₂X) to an electron-poor

alkene In organic chemistry, an alkene is a hydrocarbon containing a carbon–carbon double bond. Alkene is often used as synonym of olefin, that is, any hydrocarbon containing one or more double bonds.H. Stephen Stoker (2015): General, Organic, an ...

usually supported by a metal salt. The reaction product is an alkylated arene compound. The reaction is named after

Hans Meerwein Hans Meerwein (May 20, 1879 in Hamburg, Germany – October 24, 1965 in Marburg, Germany) was a German chemist. Several reactions and reagents bear his name, most notably the Meerwein–Ponndorf–Verley reduction, the Wagner–Meerwein rearran ...

, one of its inventors who first published it in 1939. An

electron-withdrawing group In chemistry, an electron-withdrawing group (EWG) is a substituent that has some of the following kinetic and thermodynamic implications: *with regards to electron transfer, electron-withdrawing groups enhance the oxidizing power tendency of the ...

(EWG) on the alkene makes it electron deficient and although the reaction mechanism is unclear, involvement of an

aryl radical An aryl radical in organic chemistry is a reactive intermediate and an arene compound incorporating one free radical carbon atom as part of the ring structure. As such it is the radical counterpart of the arenium ion. The parent compound is the phen ...

is presumed after loss of nitrogen in the diazonium salt followed by a free radical addition. In the primary reaction product the intermediate alkyl radical is then captured by the diazonium counterion X which is usually a halogen or a

tetrafluoroborate Tetrafluoroborate is the anion . This tetrahedral species is isoelectronic with tetrafluoroberyllate (), tetrafluoromethane (CF4), and tetrafluoroammonium () and is valence isoelectronic with many stable and important species including the perchlo ...

. In a subsequent step an

elimination reaction An elimination reaction is a type of organic reaction in which two substituents are removed from a molecule in either a one- or two-step mechanism. The one-step mechanism is known as the E2 reaction, and the two-step mechanism is known as the E1 r ...

liberates HX (for instance

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid Acid strength is the tendency of an acid, symbol ...

) and an aryl vinyl compound is formed. The reaction mechanism from the arene's view ranks as a

radical-nucleophilic aromatic substitution Radical-nucleophilic aromatic substitution or SRN1 in organic chemistry is a type of substitution reaction in which a certain substituent on an aromatic compound is replaced by a nucleophile through an intermediary free radical species: The subst ...

. In a general scope a Meerwein arylation is any reaction between an

and an alkene. The initial intermediate is an aryl enthenyl radical which can react with many

trapping reagent In chemistry, a chemical trap is a chemical compound that is used to detect unstable compounds. The method relies on efficiency of bimolecular reactions with reagents to produce a more easily characterize trapped product. In some cases, the trappin ...

s such as

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...

or halogens or with those based on

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

or sulfur.

Scope

A reported reaction of alkene

acrylic acid Acrylic acid (IUPAC: propenoic acid) is an organic compound with the formula CH2=CHCOOH. It is the simplest unsaturated carboxylic acid, consisting of a vinyl group connected directly to a carboxylic acid terminus. This colorless liquid has a ...

with an aryl diazonium salt and

copper(I) bromide Copper(I) bromide is the chemical compound with the formula CuBr. This diamagnetic solid adopts a polymeric structure akin to that for zinc sulfide. The compound is widely used in the synthesis of organic compounds and as a lasing medium in ...

and

hydrobromic acid Hydrobromic acid is a strong acid formed by dissolving the diatomic molecule hydrogen bromide (HBr) in water. "Constant boiling" hydrobromic acid is an aqueous solution that distills at and contains 47.6% HBr by mass, which is 8.77 mol/L. ...

yields the α-bromocarboxylic acid. When the alkene is

butadiene 1,3-Butadiene () is the organic compound with the formula (CH2=CH)2. It is a colorless gas that is easily condensed to a liquid. It is important industrially as a precursor to synthetic rubber. The molecule can be viewed as the union of two vi ...

the initial reaction product with catalyst

copper(II) chloride Copper(II) chloride is the chemical compound with the chemical formula CuCl2. The anhydrous form is yellowish brown but slowly absorbs moisture to form a blue-green dihydrate. Both the anhydrous and the dihydrate forms occur naturally as the ver ...

is a 4-chloro-2-butene and after an elimination the aryl substituted butadiene. In a so-called reductive arylation with 3-buten-2-one,

titanium trichloride Titanium(III) chloride is the inorganic compound with the formula TiCl3. At least four distinct species have this formula; additionally hydrated derivatives are known. TiCl3 is one of the most common halides of titanium and is an important cataly ...

reduces the newly formed double bond. In a novel kilogram-scale metal-free Meerwein arylation the diazonium salt is formed from 2-nitroaniline, the alkene isopropenyl acetate is an adduct of propyne and acetic acid and the reaction product 2-nitrophenylacetone:

References

{{reflist Carbon-carbon bond forming reactions Substitution reactions Name reactions

Scope

See also

References