Addition of CFCl3 to aromatic aldehydes via in situ Grignard reaction

Article abstract of DOI:10.3390/molecules200815098

Synthetic modification of trichlorofluoromethane (CFCl₃) to non-volatile and useful fluorinated precursors is a cost-effective and an environmentally benign strategy for the safe consumption/destruction of the ozone depleting potential of the r

Full text of DOI:10.3390/molecules200815098

Molecules 2015, 20, 15098-15107; doi:10.3390/molecules200815098
OPEN ACCESS
molecules
ISSN 1420-3049
www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules
Article
Addition of CFCl3 to Aromatic Aldehydes via in Situ
Grignard Reaction
Balaka Barkakaty 1,*, Bandana Talukdar 2 and Bradley S. Lokitz 1
1
Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
One Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA; E-Mail: lokitzbs@ornl.gov
2
Independent Researcher, Juripar, Panjabari, Guwahati 781037, Assam, India;
E-Mail: drbandana.t@gmail.com
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: barkakatyb@ornl.gov;
Tel.: +1-865-574-5610; Fax: +1-865-241-9909.
Academic Editor: Kei Saito
Received: 16 June 2015 / Accepted: 6 August 2015/ Published: 18 August 2015
Abstract: Synthetic modification of trichlorofluoromethane (CFCl3) to non-volatile and
useful fluorinated precursors is a cost-effective and an environmentally benign strategy for the
safe consumption/destruction of the ozone depleting potential of the reagent. In this report,
we present a novel method for in situ Grignard reaction using magnesium powder and CFCl3
for synthesis of dichlorofluoromethyl aromatic alcohols.
Keywords: CFCl3; magnesium; Grignard reaction; in-situ process; aromatic aldehydes
1. Introduction
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), commonly known as “Freons” are organic compounds mainly composed
of carbon, chlorine and fluorine, and are structural derivatives of methane, ethane and propane. These
compounds are non-toxic, non-flammable and do not react easily with other compounds. Due to
their inert properties, they gained huge industrial interest starting in the 1930s as safe, non-toxic, and
non-flammable alternatives to hazardous chemicals such as ammonia, methyl chloride, and sulfur
dioxide for use in refrigerants or spray can propellants [1]. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the
CFCs were used as a cost-effective solution to provide air conditioning to automobiles, homes, and office
buildings. Later, the growth of the CFC market saw an exponential rise, and the annual sales of CFCs

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reached about a billion dollars (US), and more than one million metric tons of CFCs were produced [2].
In 1974, Professor Sherwood Rowland and Dr. Mario Molina from the University of California reported
that chlorine released from CFCs was responsible for the rapid destruction of the ozone layer by creating
ozone holes in the stratosphere. It was found that one chlorine atom released from CFCs destroyed
100,000 molecules of ozone [2]. In 1987, this discovery eventually led to a global environmental treaty,
The Montreal Protocol, signed by 27 nations to reduce substances that deplete the ozone layer [3]. Later,
in 1990, an amendment was approved in London for complete elimination of CFC production by 2000 [2].
However, the sudden elimination of CFCs from the market created a huge reserve of CFC waste
worldwide. This necessitated a demand for safe storage or utilization of the CFCs in a recyclable fashion
or destruction through expensive thermal plasma treatments [4]. This scenario led to the development of a
new research field, i.e., cost-effective and synthetic utilization of CFCs for the synthesis of novel and
non-hazardous fluorinated compounds [5–13]. Out of the many CFCs, CFCl3 or trichlorofluoromethane
(CFC-11) has the maximum ozone depletion potential [14]. In 2006 and 2007, we reported novel
techniques for the reductive addition of trichlorofluoromethane (CFCl3) to aromatic aldehydes by utilizing
an activated aluminum/tin chloride (II) system under ultrasonic irradiation [15,16]. To our knowledge,
these were the first reports to provide simple and feasible synthetic methods to generate a class of
α-fluorinated aryl ketones. We reported that using an aluminum/tin chloride (II) system resulted in low
to medium yields unless ultrasonic irradiation was used [15]. Other metal catalysts also failed to increase
the yield even under elevated temperature conditions [17]. Our method employed 1.25 equivalents of tin
chloride (II) and 3.0 equivalents of aluminum under ultrasonic irradiation to drive the reaction [15].
However, aluminum [18] and tin chloride (II) [19] are considered to be toxic and hazardous. Compared
to aluminum and tin chloride (II), magnesium has much reduced toxicological effects [20,21]. In an
attempt to develop a greener alternative to our previous aluminum/tin chloride (II) system, we herein
report a novel, milder and facile method to produce dichlorofluoromethyl aromatic alcohols through the
addition of CFCl3 to aromatic aldehydes using only magnesium powder.
2. Results and Discussion
Prior to our previous report [15], the addition of CFCl3 to carbonyl groups was mainly constrained to
highly activated carbonyl compounds such as perfluoro carboxylic acid esters and aromatic carbonyl
entities attached to fluoro or trifluoromethyl moieties [9,17]. Even after activation with trifluoromethyl
or fluoro aromatic substituents, the isolated product yields were only modest (58%–79%) and low (39%) for
un-activated substrates such as benzaldehdye [9,17]. Hu et al. succeeded in obtaining dichlorofluoromethyl
alcohols by reaction of CFCl3 with less electrophilic ketones using magnesium/lithium chloride as
catalysts [22]. However, these reactions were extremely sensitive to temperature, requiring a stringent
temperature range between −20 °C to −15 °C to be maintained, and isolated product yields were only of
45%–62%. It was found that even at 0 °C, the reaction yielded various side products with pinacol as the
major component. We attributed these results to the formation of an in situ highly reactive organometallic
complex by reaction of magnesium with CFCl3 in the presence of strong lewis acid such as LiCl under
very low temperature conditions. The high reactivity of the in situ complex provided the driving force
for reactions with even less electrophilic ketones, but the complex was unstable and decomposed at
temperatures even lower than 0 °C. In support of our initial assumptions about LiCl activation, recent

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studies have verified that addition of LiCl to iPrMgCl generates a more active reagent iPrMgCl·LiCl which
is superior in reactivity to Grignard reagents [23,24]. Furthermore, in support of the hypothesis for in situ
reactions, previous studies have demonstrated that Grignard reagents produced from α-haloalkyl compounds
are highly reactive and are usually generated from reactions under in situ conditions [25]. Therefore,
considering the probability of in situ formation of a relatively more stable dichlorofluoro-magnesium
Grignard reagent under milder conditions, we attempted the reaction of CFCl3 with aromatic aldehydes
in the presence of only magnesium powder in dimethylformamide (DMF) at room temperature.
In this system, we have used magnesium powder (1 equivalent) and CFCl3 (3.0 equivalent) in DMF to
carry out the desired reaction (Scheme 1, Table 1). An excess of CFCl3 was needed because of its high
volatility at room temperature (boiling point of CFCl3 = 23.77 °C). It must be noted that the reaction is
extremely sensitive to moisture, and the yield decreases drastically in the presence of trace amounts of
moisture in the solvent, reagents or apparatus used for the reaction.
Scheme 1. Synthesis of dichlorofluoromethylaryl alcohols from aromatic aldehydes.
Table 1. Magnesium activated addition of CFCl3 to aromatic aldehydes a.
Entry
Substrate 1
Time (h)
Product 2
Yield (%)
1
4
55 b
2a
2b
1a
1b
2
3
4
4
3
3
50 b
20 b
14 b
1c
1d
1e
2c
2d
2e
5
4
47 b

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Table 1. Cont.
Entry
Substrate 1
Time (h)
Product 2
Yield (%)
6
7
4
4
65 b
2f
1f
60 b
2g
1g
8
9
4
4
unknown mixture c
1h
1i
unknown mixture c
a Carried out with aldehydes 1 (1.0 equiv.), Mg powder (1 equiv.), CFCl3 (3.0 equiv.) in DMF. b Isolated yields
based on starting material (aldehydes 1) consumed. 1H-NMR yields c.
As shown in Table 1, the overall yields of the products under these conditions are lower than our
previous report [15]. We attribute this to the equal probability of forming chlorofluorocarbene under
these conditions as reaction of CFCl3 with tetramethylethylene (3) under the same conditions gave
1,1,2,2-tetramethylchlrofluorocyclopropane (4, 60% yield) as shown in Scheme 2. This finding is similar
to the work as reported by Hu et al. [22] and also to the work reported by Lin et al. [26] where reaction
of CFCl3 [22] or CCl4 [26] with magnesium has been reported to generate chlorofluorocarbene and
dichlorocarbene respectively.
Scheme 2. Addition of CFCl3 to tetramethylene (3) in presence of magnesium powder.
Formation of chlorofluorocarbene was also reported as the major reaction pathway in the reaction of
CFCl3 with reduced titanium [27]. Burton et al. have investigated in detail the mechanism for reaction
of cadmium or zinc metal with difluorodihalomethanes in DMF and have reported that the reaction
proceeds through the formation of a difluorohalomethide anion intermediate followed by its decay
to difluorocarbene [28].The difluorocarbene subsequently reacts with a fluoride anion provided by
difluoromethylamine (a product of DMF and difluorocarbene) to form a trifluoromethyl carbanion of

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cadmium or zinc reagents [28]. Under our reaction conditions, the formation of chlorofluomethylamine could
not be detected in order to identify an analogous stepwise mechanism for formation of dichlorofluoromethyl
magnesium reagents. However, similar to the mechanism as proposed by Hu et al. [22], and
Burton et al. [28]. we postulate that under our reaction conditions at −10 °C to 25 °C (~room temperature),
a highly reactive dichlorofluoromethyl magnesium is formed which subsequently reacts with the
carbonyl group on the aromatic aldehyde to give the dichlorofluomethyl aromatic alcohols. However,
because the highly reactive dichlorofluomethyl carbenoid can also undergo a competing transformation
reaction to form chlorofluorocarbene, the desired chlorofluoromethyl aromatic alcohols are therefore
obtained in lower yields. A proposed reaction mechanism is shown in Scheme 3.
Scheme 3. Proposed mechanism for reaction of CFCl3 with aromatic aldehydes or alkenes
in presence of magnesium powder.
Carbenoid intermediates containing fluorine substituents are highly unstable, and methods for
obtaining higher yields of products using these intermediates have been successful only in cases where the
carbonyl groups are activated by electron withdrawing groups [9,17] or by employing unconventional
activating methods such as ultrasonic irradiation [15]. Temperature also plays a very important role in
these reactions [22,29]. Similar to temperature sensitive reactions of CFCl3 with carbonyl compounds
as reported by Hu et al. [22] and as described earlier, Burton et al. also have reported that fluorinated
carbenoids of lithium are highly reactive and are only stable at −116 °C and that yields of cyclopropane
formed by the reaction of a fluorinated carbene to an alkene significantly drops from 49% to 35% when
the temperature is increased to −78 °C [29]. Compared to previous reports [22,28,29], our method
(Scheme 1, Table 1) utilizes milder temperatures (−10 °C to 25 °C) and yields a stable dichlorofluoromethyl
carbenoid or dichlorofluoromethyl-magnesium Grignard reagent under in situ conditions. Lowering the
reaction temperature did not increase the yield.
In contrast to our previous report [15], it is interesting to note that although the product yield increases
when the phenyl ring is activated by electron withdrawing substituents such as -F or -CF3, the yields
decrease when the phenyl ring is substituted with other electron withdrawing halogen moieties such as
-Cl or -Br but not -F. On the contrary, for aromatic aldehydes with electron donating substituents such
as 2-Me or 4-OMe, the yields of the corresponding products were higher than that with -Cl or -Br
substituents. It was found that the products with -Cl and -Br substituents were also accompanied by
1
mixtures of unknown side products as determined by H-NMR analyses. The lower yields and
accompanying side reactions in the case of -Cl or -Br substituted aldehydes might be a result of Br/Mg
or Cl/Mg exchange of the starting aldehyde or the generated intermediates with the highly reactive

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dichlorofluoromethyl magnesium reagent formed in situ. Reaction mixtures obtained from reactions of
1-cinnamaldehyde and 2-furaldehyde were very complex and could not be separated or identified.
3. Experimental Section
3.1. General
19
1H-NMR, 13C-NMR (internal standard: tetramethylsilane) and F-NMR (internal standard: C6F6)
spectra were recorded on a JEOL JNM-AL300 spectrometer. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra
were recorded on a Thermo Nicolet Avatar 360T2 infrared spectrophotometer. Elemental analyses were
performed on a Perkin-Elmer 2400 series II CHNS/O analyzer. For thin layer chromatography (TLC),
aluminum sheets, Merck silica gel coated 60 F254 plates were used, and the plates were visualized with
UV light and phosphomolybdic acid (5% in EtOH). Merck silica gel 60 N (spherical, neutral) (40–50 µm)
was used for the flash chromatography.
3.2. Materials
Trichlorofluoromethane (CFCl3) was obtained from Sigma-Aldrich and stored in the freezer over 4 Å
molecular sieves. It is worth mentioning here that the boiling point of CFCl3 is 23.77 °C and, therefore,
should be stored under cold conditions. Fresh magnesium powder was obtained from Sigma-Aldrich and
was used without further purification. Fresh anhydrous DMF was obtained by distillation from calcium
hydride and was stored over 4 Å molecular sieves.
3.3. Method: Activation of CFCl3 by Magnesium Powder and Its Addition to Aromatic
Aldehydes-Typical Procedure
A two-necked flask equipped with a reflux condenser was flame dried and flushed with argon. Then,
magnesium powder (230 mg, 9.4 mmol) followed by anhydrous DMF (25 mL) was added to the flask
under argon atmosphere. Then, the flask was cooled to −10 °C using ice/acetone mixture. CFCl3 was
then added to the cooled reaction mixture via a cannula and the combined reaction mixture was stirred
at −10 °C for 10 min under an argon atmosphere. During this initial stirring, heat was evolved and
magnesium powder in the reaction mixture was slowly consumed thereby indicating the formation of the
Grignard complex. After 10 min, benzaldehyde (990 mg, 9.4 mmol, 0.96 mL) was added to the reaction
flask via a syringe under an argon atmosphere at −10 °C. Then, the reaction mixture was stirred and
allowed to come to room temperature for 4 h. The reaction was quenched with 5% aqueous HCl solution,
and the mixture was extracted five times with ethyl acetate. The combined extracts were washed with
an aqueous solution of NaHCO3 and brine followed by drying the organic layer over anhydrous MgSO4.
The volatile organic solvent was then removed by rotary evaporation. The crude product was purified by
column chromatography (Hexane/EtOAc = 3:1) to give 2,2-dichloro-2-fluoro-1-phenylethanol (1.10 g;
55% yield). Other compounds were also obtained by following similar procedures. As mentioned earlier,
this reaction is extremely sensitive to moisture and should be performed under stringent dry conditions.
We used freshly bought magnesium powder for our reactions. Old stock of magnesium powder might
also work well for these reactions considering the high reactivity of α-haloalkyl Grignard reagents, or,

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alternatively, ultrasonic activation of magnesium powder in DMF before addition of CFCl3 might be a
good option.
3.4. Characterization of the Products
All the products, 2a–e were identified by comparison of spectroscopic data (IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR
and 19F-NMR) with the authentic samples as reported in [15,30,31]. The characteristic 1H-NMR values
are given below for reference:
2,2-Dichloro-2-fluoro-1-phenylethanol (2a). 1H-NMR (CDCl3): δ = 7.53 (m, 2H), 7.41 (m, 3H), 5.16 (d,
J = 8.4 Hz, 1H), 2.97 (br s, 1H, OH).
1
2,2-Dichloro-2-fluoro-1-(2-methylphenyl)ethanol (2b). H-NMR (CDCl3): δ = 7.66 (d, J = 6.9 Hz,
1H), 7.25 (m, 3H), 5.43 (d, J = 9.3 Hz, 1H), 2.60 (s, 3H), 3.05 (br s, 1H, OH).
1
2,2-Dichloro-2-fluoro-1-(2-chlorophenyl)ethanol (2c). H-NMR (CDCl3): δ = 7.75 (m, 1H), 7.36 (m,
3H), 5.77 (d, J = 9.3 Hz, 1H), 3.17 (br s, 1H, OH).
2,2-Dichloro-2-fluoro-1-(4-bromophenyl)ethanol (2d). 1H-NMR (CDCl3): δ = 7.53 (m, 2H), 7.40 (d,
J = 8.1 Hz, 2H), 5.11 (d, J = 7.5 Hz, 1H), 3.24 (br s, 1H, OH).
2,2-Dichloro-2-fluoro-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)ethanol (2e). 1H-NMR (CDCl3): δ = 7.45 (d, J = 8.4 Hz, 2H),
6.92 (d, J = 8.4 Hz, 2H), 5.10 (d, J = 8.7 Hz, 1H), 3.82 (s, 3H), 2.97 (br s, 1H, OH).
2,2-Dichloro-2-fluoro-1-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)ethanol (2f). 1H-NMR (CDCl3): δ = 7.51 (m, 4H), 5.3
(d, J = 8.1 Hz, 1H), 3.1 (br s, 1H, OH).
1
2,2-Dichloro-2-fluoro-1-(4-fluorophenyl)ethanol (2g). H-NMR (CDCl3): δ = 7.75 (m, 2H), 7.36 (m,
2H), 5.8 (d, J = 9.1 Hz, 1H), 3.3 (br s, 1H, OH).
4. Conclusions
In conclusion, we present a cost-effective and facile method for the addition and modification of
aromatic aldehydes with CFCl3 under mild conditions. This method demonstrates a novel strategy for in
situ formation of a reactive dichlorofluoromethyl magnesium Grignard reagent and its importance in
synthesizing dichlorofluoromethyl aromatic alcohols. Unlike other previous methods, these reactions
can be performed under relatively mild conditions and can also be used in reactions with de-activated or
less electrophilic aromatic aldehyde substrates having electron donating substituents. However, the
yields obtained under these conditions are moderate. This is attributed to the in situ formation of
chlorofluorocarbene via a competing reaction pathway. Chlorofluorocarbene formation was verified via
isolation of the cyclopropane product (4), 1,1,2,2-tetramethylchlorofluorocyclopropane formed from the
reaction between tetramethylene (3) and chlrofluorocarbene. Based on previous reports [26–29], we
conclude that chlorofluorocarbene formation could have occurred with equal probability under the
employed reaction conditions, and further studies are needed to understand the kinetics and dependence
of the various factors/parameters.

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Acknowledgments
A portion of this work was performed at the Department of Materials and Energy Science at Okayama
University in Japan, and we acknowledge Sadao Tusboi and his research group at the University of
Okayam for their help and support. Financial support for the work done at Okayama University was
provided by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture,
Japan. Work was also conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office
of Science User Facility.
Author Contributions
B.B. carried out the synthesis and characterization and wrote the paper. B.T. and B.S.L. provided
helpful feedback in elucidating the mechanism of the reaction and also helped in manuscript preparation.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Sample Availability: Samples of the compounds might be available from the authors on request.
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