^
Top
Org. Synth. 2002, 79, 204
DOI: 10.15227/orgsyn.079.0204
3-(4-BROMOBENZOYL)PROPANOIC ACID
[ Bromobutanoic acid, 4-bromo-γ-oxo- ]
Submitted by Alexander J. Seed, Vaishali Sonpatki, and Mark R. Herbert1 .
Checked by Ayako Ono and Koichi Narasaka.
1. Procedure
A 500-mL, three-necked, round-bottomed flask (Note 1) equipped with an overhead mechanical stirrer, is charged with powdered succinic anhydride (10.01 g, 0.1000 mol) (Note 2) and bromobenzene (96.87 g, 0.6170 mol) (Note 2) under dry argon. The resulting white mixture is cooled to 0°C before anhydrous aluminum chloride (26.67 g, 0.2000 mol) (Note 2) is added in one portion (Note 3). The reaction conditions are maintained over a period of 4 hr before the reaction mixture is allowed to warm to room temperature. The reaction mixture is stirred for 96 hr at room temperature (completion of the reaction is indicated by cessation of the evolution of hydrogen chloride gas) and is then poured into cooled (0°C), mechanically stirred hydrochloric acid (250 mL, 37%) (Note 4) and stirred for 1 hr. The white precipitate is filtered off, washed well with water (1 L) and dried overnight on a Büchner funnel. The crude product (24.81 g, 97%) is crystallized from dry toluene (Note 5) and dried under reduced pressure (P2O5, CaCl2, 18 hr) to afford a white crystalline product (first fraction, 20.76 g, second fraction, 3.47 g); yield is 24.23 g (94%) (Note 6).
2. Notes
1. The glassware was dried in an oven at 130°C, assembled while still hot, and alternately evacuated and flushed with argon.
2. The checkers purchased succinic anhydride, bromobenzene and aluminum chloride from Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd, Tokyo Chemical Industry Co., and Kanto Chemical Co. respectively, and used them as received.
3. Upon the addition of the aluminum chloride the reaction progressively turned from a yellow suspension to a clear yellow to a clear orange-red solution.
4. The checkers used 35-37% hydrochloric acid (340 mL) purchased from Kokusan Chemial Works, Ltd.
5. The toluene was dried over sodium metal.
6. The product showed the following physical and spectroscopic characteristics: mp 147-148°C (lit.2 149.5-150.2°C). 1H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ: 2.59 (2 H, t, 3J = 6.5), 3.21 (2 H, t, 3J = 6.5), 7.88 (2 H, d, 3J = 8.8), 7.96 (2 H, d, 3J = 8.8), 12.19 (1 H, s) ; 13C NMR (126 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ: 28.3, 33.6, 127.7, 130.3, 132.2, 135.9, 174.1, 198.2; IR (KBr) cm−1: 3400-2600, 1730, 1670, 1585, 1479, 1447, 1410, 1332, 1281, 1241, 1198, 1105, 1074, 990, 905, 840, 791. MS m/z 256.2(M+), 185.1, 183.1(100%), 157.1, 155.1, 76.1, 75.1. Anal. Calcd for C10H9BrO3: C, 46.72; H, 3.53. Found: C, 46.69; H, 3.49.
Handling and Disposal of Hazardous Chemicals
The procedures in this article are intended for use only by persons with prior training in experimental organic chemistry. All hazardous materials should be handled using the standard procedures for work with chemicals described in references such as "Prudent Practices in the Laboratory" (The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2011 www.nap.edu). All chemical waste should be disposed of in accordance with local regulations. For general guidelines for the management of chemical waste, see Chapter 8 of Prudent Practices.
These procedures must be conducted at one's own risk. Organic Syntheses, Inc., its Editors, and its Board of Directors do not warrant or guarantee the safety of individuals using these procedures and hereby disclaim any liability for any injuries or damages claimed to have resulted from or related in any way to the procedures herein.
3. Discussion
Recently we have reported the first highly efficient synthesis of ferroelectric liquid crystals bearing the 2-alkoxythiophene unit via Lawesson's reagent-mediated cyclization of γ-keto esters.3 4 The requisite γ-keto acids were initially targeted through acylation of appropriately substituted aryl compounds using the procedure described by Fieser et al.5 A literature search reveals that acylation of aryl units with succinic anhydride is almost always carried out using this procedure which requires elevated temperatures. Recent studies have shown that the acylation of bromophenyl systems using this procedure results in problematic debromination2 and considerably lower yields.6 In repeating the method of Fieser it was found that acylation of bromobenzene gave lower yields and a substantial quantity (8% by 1H NMR) of the ortho product as well as the desired para isomer.
Our improved methodology uses low temperatures and extended reaction times, and has been shown to give consistently high yields of purified materials combined with complete regioselectivity in a variety of aryl systems (see Table I). The procedure is the first reliable, simple and general method for acylation of aryl systems using succinic anhydride . In addition, it was noted that the reaction conditions also gave the highest reported yield (previous yields range from 55-63% 7) for acylation of bromothiophene with succinic anhydride. Of particular interest was the fact that we did not observe any ring opening that is so often reported in reactions involving combinations of aluminum chloride and thiophene derivatives.8
The methodology may also be applicable to the synthesis of pharmacodynamic agents based on the alkoxythiophene core.9 Such materials should be readily accessible via our new cyclization methodology3, 4, 10 which utilizes the γ-keto acid precursors.

References and Notes
  1. Department of Chemistry, W. H., Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242-0001.
  2. Mallory, F. B.; Luzic, E.D.; Mallory, C. W; Carroll, P. J. J. Org. Chem. 1992, 57, 366.
  3. Herbert, M. R.; Sonpatki, V. M.; Jákli, A; Seed, A. J. at 18th International Liquid Crystal Conference (Sendai (Japan), July 2000).
  4. Sonpatki, V.; Herbert, M. R.; Sandvoss, L.; Seed, A. J. at 220th ACS National Meeting (Washington DC (USA), August 2000).
  5. Fieser, L. F.; Seligman, A. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1938, 60, 170.
  6. Mathur, N. C.; Snow, M. S.; Young, K. M; Pincock, J. A. Tetrahedron 1985, 41, 1509.
  7. Badger, G. M.; Rodda, H. J.; Sasse, W. H. F. J. Chem. Soc. 1954, 4162.
  8. Taylor, R. "Heterocyclic Compounds. Thiophene and its derivatives"; Gronowitz, S., Ed.; John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1986, 44 (Part 4), 1-117.
  9. Press, J. B. "Heterocyclic Chemistry. Thiophene and its derivatives"; Gronowitz, S., Ed.; John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1990, 44 (Part 1), 397-456.
  10. Herbert, M. R.; Sonpatki, V. M.; Jákli, A; Seed, A. J. Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 2001, 365, 181.

Appendix
Chemical Abstracts Nomenclature (Collective Index Number);
(Registry Number)

3-(4-Bromobenzoyl)propanoic acid :
Benzenebutanoic acid, 4-bromo-γ-oxo- (9); (6340-79-0).

Succinic anhydride (8):
2,5-Furandione, dihydro- (9); (108-30-5).

Bromobenzene:
Benzene, bromo- (8,9); (108-86-1).

Aluminum chloride (8,9); (7446-70-0).