Green halogenation reactions for (hetero)aromatic ring systems in alcohol, water, or no solvent

A new method of brominating aromatic and heteroaromatic ring systems is investigated. The combination of hydrobromic acid as the halogen source, hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant, and ethanol, water, or no solvent are evaluated as greener conditions than those that have been previously published. The new conditions give high yields and good regioselectivity for a variety of substrates when the ring is activated by electron-donating groups or heteroatoms. Phenols, anisole, thiophenes, and pyrrole give comparable or superior results when compared to a traditional bromination by N-bromosuccinimide in tetrahydrofuran. Other nitrogen-containing heterocycles do not react under the conditions because they are protonated and hence deactivated; similarly, substrates with electron-withdrawing groups are not brominated. The reaction is very tolerant of a variety of functional groups.