Julien Jouanneau

A DFT study of the Al2Cl6-catalyzed Friedel–Crafts acylation of phenyl aromatic compounds

The reaction pathways of several Friedel–Crafts acylations involving phenyl aromatic compounds were studied using density functional theory. The reactions were related to the Friedel–Crafts polycondensation of polyaryletherketones. In particular, the acylation of benzene with benzoyl chloride to form benzophenone and variations on this reaction were investigated. The acylation of benzene by one molecule of terephthaloyl chloride or isophthaloyl chloride as well as acylations at the m-, o-, and p-positions of diphenyl ether with one molecule of benzoyl chloride were studied. Adding an additional acyl chloride group to the electrophile appeared to have little influence on the reaction pathway, although the activation energy for the C–C bond-forming steps that occurred when isophthaloyl choride was used was different to the activation energy observed when terephthaloyl chloride was used. Upon changing the nucleophile to diphenyl ether, the reactivity changed according to the trend predicted on based on the o-, p-directing effects of the ether group. The deprotonation step that restored aromaticity varied widely according to the reaction. The rate-determining step in all of the studied reactions was the formation of the acylium ion, followed in importance by either the formation of the Wheland intermediate or the abstraction of hydrogen, depending on the reactivity of the nucleophile.

A DFT study of the formation of xanthydrol motifs during electrophilic poly(aryl ether ketone) synthesis

The reaction pathway of the cyclization of 2-phenoxybenzophenone into 9-phenyl-9H-xanthen-9-ol in the presence of acid and an excess of AlCl33 was studied using density functional theory. This type of reaction is known to occur during the Friedel–Crafts polycondensation of poly(aryl ether ketones) following the undesired benzoylation of nucleophilic positions ortho- to the growing polymer’s ether groups. The formed defect acts as an undesired terminator of the polymer chain, causing severe problems in the polymer’s melt state. A branched, multistep mechanism reminiscent of the Friedel–Crafts acylation reaction is discovered; the reaction starts with the protonation of the carbonyl oxygen, followed by intramolecular electrophilic attack on the carbonyl carbon that determines the turnover frequency of the catalytic cycle and ends by deprotonation of the Wheland intermediate.