Radical cation mechanism of aromatic halogenation by halogens or iodine chloride in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropan-2-ol

The reaction between aromatic compounds ArH and halogenating agents, viz. iodine chloride, chlorine, bromine, iodine, N-bromosuccinimide and N-chlorosuccinimide, in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropan-2-ol (HFP) has been investigated. EPR spectroscopy established that these reagents produced persistent radical cations ArH.+ from ArH with E-rev(ArH.+/ArH) up to 1.6, 1.3, 1.4, 1.1, 1.5 and 1.2 V vs. Ag/AgCl, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry of the halogenating species shows that no effect of complexation with halide ion is observed in HFP, as expected from its capacity to drastically attenuate nucleophilic reactivity, and that the cathodic peak potentials E-pc(referenced to the internal ferricinium/ferrocene redox couple) are significantly or remarkably higher in HFP than in acetonitrile. For N-bromosuccinimide, the difference amounts to almost 1 V. The persistency of the radical cations in HFP is such that the kinetics of reactions between a halogenating agent, such as iodine chloride or bromine, and ArH, such as 1,4-dimethoxybenzene [E-rev(ArH.+/ArH) = 1.50 V vs. Ag/AgCl] or 1,4-dimethoxy-2,3-dimethylbenzene [E-rev(ArH.+/ArH) = 1.16 V], have been studied at room temperature over periods of hours. The initial concentration of the radical cation corresponds to yields in the range of 40-100%, depending on the reaction conditions. It is thus possible to establish that the radical cation decays via two pathways, one being the well known oxidative substitution reaction with halide ion. The second mechanism involves halogen atom transfer from the halogenating agent (Cl atom from ICl, Br atom from bromine). In the case of the radical cation of 1,4-dimethoxy-2,3-dimethylbenzene reacting with bromide ion or bromine, the latter reaction is >10(2) times faster.