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Aadarsh Jha

Reimer-Tiemann reaction on indole

Betsy Poole  Follow

The paper by Order and Lindwall [1] agrees with you that the R-T reaction gives indole-3-carboxaldehyde.

Since its isolation in 1903 by Hopkins and Cole (1), 3-indole aldehyde has been investigated very little. It was first prepared by Ellinger (2) from indole through the use of the Reimer-Tiemann reaction. This method was improved on later by Boyd and Robson (3).

References

  1. Order, R. B. V.; Lindwall, H. G. 3-Indole Aldehyde and Certain of Its Condensation Products. J. Org. Chem. 1945, 10 (2), 128–133. DOI: 10.1021/jo01178a006.

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GardenC  Follow
Also note that the answer refers to C2 as "most electrophilic", which is true. But in the first step of the R-T reaction, the aromatic ring acts as a nucleophile, so the reaction happens at the most nucleophilic position (C3) rather than the electrophilic position (C2).More
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Gerald Stromain  Follow
What about the explanation given in the solution?More
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Edmund Vermeulens  Follow
Indole is not pyrroleMore
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