Free Radical Bromination of Saturated Hydrocarbons using Bromine and Mercuric Oxide

Abstract

The reaction of alkanes with a mixture of bromine and mercuric oxide gives alkyl bromides in preparatively useful yields. The reagent is significantly more reactive than elemental bromine, and it is believed that bromine monoxide, formed insitu by the interaction of bromine and mercury oxide, is the reactive intermediate. Bromination by bromine monoxide is a free radical chain process in which hydrogen abstraction is carried out predominantly by bromoxy (BrO•) radicals, and to a lesser extent by bromine atoms.