Dedicated to my Supervisor Prof. Rajani Giridhar and thankful to ICMR, New Delhi for
financial support.
Introduction
Bromoacetyl bromide is a versatile and widely used reagent for the synthesis of heterocyclic
compounds, especially for the regioselective synthesis of heterocycles. It easily
forms esters and amides used for the synthesis of many important intermediates to
yield therapeutically active compounds, e.g. cefotetan and labetalol[
1
] and is also utilized for the selective cleavage of ethers and acetals and exploited
for the selective extension of carbon chains.[
2
]
Spectroscopic investigations have shown that bromoacetyl bromide in both gaseous and
liquid phases is a mixture of two conformers, anti and gauche in the ratio of 40:60, respectively.[
3
]
Bromoacetyl bromide is prepared by reaction of acetic acid and bromine in the presence
of red phosphorous at 140 °C.
Bromoacetyl bromide is a colorless corrosive liquid (bp 296.6–302 °C) and hydrolyses
readily in water. Some of the important uses of bromoacetyl bromide are depicted below.
