Fundamentals of Organic ChemistryChemistryCarboxylic Acid Derivatives
Identify the major product of the following reaction:
Correct answer
2
Step-by-step solution
The reaction of benzene with an acid chloride in the presence of anhydrous AlCl₃ is a Friedel-Crafts acylation. The Lewis acid AlCl₃ facilitates the generation of an electrophilic acylium ion from butyryl chloride: CH₃CH₂CH₂COCl + AlCl₃ CH₃CH₂CH₂C^+=O + AlCl₄^- The acylium ion is resonance stabilized and does not undergo rearrangement, unlike alkyl carbocations. Electrophilic aromatic substitution of the acylium ion on the benzene ring yields 1-phenylbutan-1-one as the major product. This corresponds to the structu