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Halogenation of saturated hydrocarbons is a substitution reaction. The reaction typically involves free radical pathways. The regiochemistry of the halogenation of alkanes is largely determined by the relative weakness of the C–H bonds. This trend is reflected by the faster reaction at tertiary and secondary positions.
For example, consider radical bromination of toluene: [5] bromination of toluene with hydrobromic acid and hydrogen peroxide in water. This reaction takes place on water instead of an organic solvent and the bromine is obtained from oxidation of hydrobromic acid with hydrogen peroxide. An incandescent light bulb suffices to radicalize.
Halogenation of phenols is faster in polar solvents in a basic environment due to the dissociation of phenol, with phenoxide ions being more susceptible to electrophilic attack as they are more electron-rich. Chlorination of toluene with chlorine without catalyst requires a polar solvent as well such as acetic acid.
Aromatic halogenation with bromine, chlorine, or iodine gives the corresponding aryl halides. This reaction is typically catalyzed by the corresponding iron or aluminum trihalide. The Friedel–Crafts reaction can be performed either as an acylation or as an alkylation.
For alkylbenzene derivatives, e.g. toluene, the alkyl positions tend to be halogenated by free radical conditions, whereas ring halogenation is favored in the presence of Lewis acids. [6] The decolouration of bromine water by electron-rich arenes is used in the bromine test. Reaction between benzene and halogen to form an halogenobenzene
The reaction mechanism for an alkene bromination can be described as follows. In the first step of the reaction, a bromine molecule approaches the electron-rich alkene carbon–carbon double bond. The bromine atom closer to the bond takes on a partial positive charge as its electrons are repelled by the electrons of the double bond.
Another reaction mechanism that was elucidated using the KIE is halogenation of toluene: [60] In this particular "intramolecular KIE" study, a benzylic hydrogen undergoes radical substitution by bromine using N-bromosuccinimide as the brominating agent. It was found that PhCH 3 brominates 4.86x faster than PhCD 3 (PhC 2 H 3).
Nitration of toluene gives mono-, di-, and trinitrotoluene, all of which are widely used. Dinitrotoluene is the precursor to toluene diisocyanate, a precursor to polyurethane foam. Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is an explosive. Complete hydrogenation of toluene gives methylcyclohexane. The reaction requires a high pressure of hydrogen and a catalyst.