Synthesis of bis(1,2,2-trichloroethyl) and bis(dichlorovinyl) selenides by electrophilic reaction of selenium dichloride with 1,2-dichloroethylene

Abstract

Electrophilic reactions of sulfur dichloride with unsaturated systems underlie one of the most general methods for the synthesis of bis(2-chloroalkyl) sulfides [1]. Reactions of analogous unsaturated compounds with selenium tetrachloride yield the corresponding bis-adducts containing a four-coordinate selenium atom (>SeCl2) [2]. In recent years we performed systematic studies on reactions of SeCl2 with alkenes and their oxygenand sulfur-containing derivatives [3, 4]. Reactions with chlorinated ethylenes, such as chloroethene, 1,1and 1,2-dichloroethenes, and trichloroethene were reported only for SCl2, and they required the presence of Lewis acids as catalyst [5]. Garratt et al. [6] showed that SeCl4 failed to react with 1,2-dichloroethene in the presence of AlCl3 as catalyst. Nevertheless, we succeeded in adding SeCl2 to bis(2-chlorovinyl) selenide (a selenium-containing derivative of 1,2-dichloroethene) in the absence of a catalyst [7]. Sulfur and selenium dichlorides are known to act as chlorinating agents toward alkylsulfanyl derivatives of polychloroethenes, e.g., alkyl 2,2-dichlorovinyl sulfides [8].