Willgerodt Reaction

Name:
Willgerodt Reaction
Detailed information:
Discovered in 1887, this reaction involves heating a ketone, e.g., ArCOCH₃, with an aqueous solution of yellow ammonium sulfide (sulfur dissolved in ammonium sulfide). It results in formation of an amide derivative of an arylacetic acid and in some reduction of the ketone: ArCOCH₃ + (NH)₄S_x → ArCH₂CONH₂ + ArCH₂CH₃.The dark reaction mixture usually is refluxed with alkali to hydrolyze the amide, the arylacetic acid being recovered from the alkaline solution (L. & M. Fieser).