Nuclear versus Side-Chain Bromination of Methyl-Substituted Anisoles by N-Bromosuccinimide

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00095a023

The reactions of methyl-substituted anisoles with N-bromosuccinimide in CCl4 are reported.In the absence of a catalyst and under irradiation, some of these substrates undergo nuclear bromination in competition with the well-known side-chain bromination.With 2-methylanisole and with 2,6-dimethylanisole, nuclear bromination is not observed, whereas with 3,5-dimethylanisole, nuclear bromination at the 4-position is the dominating reaction.Investigation of the reactivity of several other methyl-substituted anisoles revealed the following general trend: methyl-substituted anisoles are attacked at the position para to the methoxy group rather than at the side chain when (at least) two methyl groups are present at positions 3 and 5.When positions 2 and 6 are both occupied, nuclear bromination is retarded; in 2,6-dimethylanisole and 2,3,6-trimethylanisole, only side-chain bromination is observed.In contrast, in 2,3,5,6-tetramethylanisole, the 4-position is sufficiently reactive to be brominated, because the decrease in reactivity by the presence of two methyl groups at positions 2 and 6 is overruled by the two additional methyl groups at positions 3 and 5; as a result, both nuclear and side-chain bromination occur.The observed chemospecificity can be rationalized by a difference in mechanism: the side-chain bromination is radical reaction, while the nuclear bromination is an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction, which is so far contrary to expectation, as irradiation had been expected to favor radical processes.