Stereochemistry of Friedel-Crafts Alkylation of Benzene with Optically Active 2-Chlorobutane

Article abstract of DOI:10.1246/bcsj.54.3611

The alkylation of benzene with (+)-2-chlorobutane (1) by Lewis acid catalyst gave stereospecifically (-)-2-phenylbutane (2) with inversion of configuration at low temperature for short reaction time.A lowering of the stereospecificity of the reaction was found to be partly due to the racemization of (+)-1- and (-)-2.