Introduction of a strong electron-withdrawing substituent to the nitrogen atom of 2,5(2,3)-dialkyl-1,4-benzoquinone imines makes their halogenation products, the corresponding cyclohexene derivatives, very unstable and favors halogenation of methyl groups in the quinoid ring. Bromination of 4-amino-N-aroyl-2,5-dialkyl-6-bromophenols gave 2,5-dialkyl-6-benzoyloxy-3,5-dibromocyclohex-2-ene-1,4-diones. * For communication IX, see [1].We previously examined halogenation of N-arylsulfonyl-2,5-dialkyl-1,4-benzoquinone imines [2] and found that the main factors determining the direction of addition of halogen molecule are the size of substituents in the quinoid ring and the size of the halogen atom. The presence of a strong electron-withdrawing substituent on the nitrogen atom, in particular aroyl group, also considerably affects the halogenation process [1, 3,4]. Halogenation of N-aroyl-2,5(2,3)-dialkylsubstituted 1,4-benzoquinone imines and their reduction products, N-aroyl-2,5(2,3)-dialkyl-4-aminophenols was not reported previously.The goal of the present work was to study halogenation of N-aroyl-2,5(2,3)-dialkyl-1,4-benzoquinone imines, elucidate specific features of the halogenation process, and compare these reactions with halogenation of the corresponding N-arylsulfonyl derivatives. As substrates we used N-aroyl-1,4-benzoquinone imines which, like N-arylsulfonyl derivatives studied previously [2], contained different alkyl substituents (i-Pr, Me) in positions 2 and 5 of the quinoid ring: N-aroyl-2,5-dimethyl-, -2-isopropyl-5-methyl-, and -5-isopropyl-2-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone imines Ia-Ic, IIa-IIc, and IIIa-IIIc, and their reduction products, 4-amino-N-aroyl-2,5-dimethyl-, 2-isopropyl-5-methyl-, and -5-isopropyl-2-methylphenols IVa-IVc, Va-Vc, and VIa-VIc.Due to the presence of a methyl or isopropyl group in the ortho position with respect to the imino nitrogen atom, quinone imines I-III in solution exist as a single isomer, which is confirmed by the 1 H NMR data. In the 1 H NMR spectra of N-aroyl-2,5-dialkyl-1,4-benzoquinone imines, differences in the chemical shifts of protons in the quinoid ring were considerably smaller than those observed for analogous N-arylsulfonyl derivatives; therefore, assignment of signals in the spectra of compounds I-III was more difficult. The 3-H proton in I-III resonated in the 1 H NMR spectra in the region δ 6.58-6.66 ppm, while the 6-H signal was located at δ 6.44-6.59 ppm; the corresponding signals of N-arylsulfonyl derivatives appeared in the regions δ 7.89-7.96 and 6.50-6.64 ppm, respectively [2].
N-Aroyl-2,5-dialkyl-1,4-benzoquinone imines I-IIIwere synthesized by oxidation of the corresponding aminophenols IV-VI with lead tetraacetate in acetic acid. The chlorination of quinone imines I-III and aminophenols IV-VI was performed using gaseous chlorine, and the bromination was carried out with molecular bromine in CHCl 3 , AcOH, DMF, or DMFAcOH (1 : 5) at different substrate-to-reagent ratios under different temperature conditions. The results are given in Scheme 1. Unlike N-a...