Synthesis and structural studies of <Emphasis Type="Italic">tris</Emphasis>-2-chlorobenzylamine and <Emphasis Type="Italic">tris</Emphasis>-2-bromobenzylamine

The tris-2-chloro and 2-bromotribenzylamines are prepared from aqueous ammonia and 2-chlorobenzyl chloride and 2-bromobenzyl bromide, respectively, in ethanol. Recrystallization yielded colorless cubes of each product. The crystal structures are each solved in space group P , and are isostructural. The tris-2-chloro compound, 1, has a = 7.4226(5) Å, b = 9.0825(7) Å, c = 14.529(1) Å, = 78.279(1), = 82.389(1), = 84.661(1), and V = 948.41(12) ų with Z = 2, and d_calc = 1.368 Mg/m³. The tris-2-bromo analog, 2, has a = 7.6569(11) Å, b = 9.0922(13) Å, c = 14.614(2) Å, = 79.286(2), = 81.777(2), = 85.401(2), and V = 987.9(2) ų with Z = 2, and d_calc = 1.762 Mg/m³. Lithium–halogen exchange experiments conducted in tetrahydrofuran at –78C using n-butyl lithium revealed that no exchange occurred for the tris-2-chloro compound, but did occur for the tris-2-bromo analog to yield tribenzylamine upon quench and work-up.