Hydrogen Bromide → 3-Bromo-4'-chloro-4-ethylbiphenyl

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

Hydrobromic acid (48% wt. in water, 85 ml) is added dropwise to a suspension of 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-ethylaniline (14.3 g, 0.05 mol) in water (57 ml), and the mixture stirred. The mixture is cooled to −5° C. and a solution of sodium nitrite (5.07 g, 0.072 mol) in water (25 ml) is added dropwise, maintaining the temperature at 0-5° C. The reaction mixture is stirred for 1 hour, then added to a pre-cooled solution of cuprous bromide (9 g, 0.062 mol) in hydrobromic acid (48% wt. in water, 64 ml) at 0° C. The reaction mixture is stirred and allowed to warm to room temperature overnight. The mixture is diluted with water, extracted with diethyl ether, and the organic extracts are combined, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and the filtrate concentrated in vacuo. The residue is further purified by column chromatography on silica gel, eluting with 2% ethyl acetate in hexane to give 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-ethyl-1-bromobenzene (10 g).

Provenance & Evidence