Friedel-Crafts acylation

The Friedel-Crafts acylation is an organic reaction used to convert an aryl compound and an acyl halide or anhydride to an aryl ketone using a Lewis acid catalyst (such as AlCl₃). The reaction begins with the Lewis acid abstracting the halide (or carboxylate) from the acyl halide (or ester) to form an electrophilic acylium cation and a tetrasubstituted aluminum anion. The aromatic compound then attacks the acylium ion via an electrophilic aromatic substitution (S_EAr) to give a cationic product with loss of aromaticity. Deprotonation with the aluminum anion results in the final aryl ketone and regeneration of the Lewis acid catalyst.^[1]