 The Fries rearrangement proceeds through ionic intermediates. The reaction depends on the structure of the substrates and the reaction conditions. 
The scheme depicts the formation of an ortho-acylated phenol from a substituted phenolic ester in the presence of aluminium trihalide catalyst. The photo Fries rearrangement mechanism proceeds through Radical intermediates.
The Fries rearrangement proceeds through ionic intermediates. The reaction depends on the structure of the substrates and the reaction conditions. 
The scheme depicts the formation of an ortho-acylated phenol from a substituted phenolic ester in the presence of aluminium trihalide catalyst. The photo Fries rearrangement mechanism proceeds through Radical intermediates. 
The 
Fries rearrangement, named for the German chemist 
Karl Theophil Fries, is a 
rearrangement reaction of a 
phenyl ester to a 
hydroxy aryl ketone by 
catalysis of 
Lewis acids.
[1][2][3][4]
It involves migration of an 
acyl group of 
phenyl ester to 
benzene ring. The reaction is 
ortho and para selective and one of the two products can be favoured by changing reaction conditions, such as 
temperature and 
solvent.
Mechanism
Despite many efforts a definitive 
reaction mechanism for the Fries rearrangement is not available. Evidence for inter- and 
intramolecular mechanisms have been obtained by so-called cross-experiments with mixed reactants. Reaction progress is not dependent on 
solvent or 
substrate. A widely accepted mechanism involves a 
carbocation intermediate.
In the first reaction step a 
Lewis acid for instance 
aluminium chloride AlCl
3 co-ordinates to the 
carbonyl oxygen atom of the 
acyl group. This oxygen atom is more 
electron rich than the 
phenolic oxygen atom and is the preferred 
Lewis base. This interaction 
polarizes the 
bond
 between the acyl residue and the phenolic oxygen atom and the aluminium
 chloride group rearranges to the phenolic oxygen atom. This generates a
 free 
acylium carbocation which reacts in a classical 
electrophilic aromatic substitution with the aromatic ring. The abstracted proton is released as 
hydrochloric acid
 where the chlorine is derived from aluminium chloride. The orientation 
of the substitution reaction is temperature dependent. A low reaction 
temperature favors 
para substitution and with high temperatures the 
ortho
 product prevails. Formation of the ortho product is also favoured in 
non-polar solvents; as the solvent polarity increases, the ratio of the 
para product also increases.
[5]
Scope
Phenols react to 
esters but do not react to hydroxyarylketones with acylhalogen compounds under 
Friedel-Crafts acylation
 reaction conditions and therefore this reaction is of industrial 
importance for the synthesis of hydroxyarylketones which are important 
intermediates for several pharmaceutics such as 
paracetamol and 
salbutamol. As an alternative to 
aluminium chloride, other 
Lewis acids such as 
boron trifluoride and 
bismuth triflate or strong protic acids such as 
hydrogen fluoride and 
methanesulfonic acid can also be used. In order to avoid the use of these corrosive and environmentally unfriendly 
catalysts altogether research into alternative 
heterogeneous catalysts is actively pursued.
Limits
In all instances only 
esters
 can be used with stable acyl components that can withstand the harsh 
conditions of the Fries rearrangement. If the aromatic or the acyl 
component is heavily substituted then the 
chemical yield will drop due to 
steric constraints. Deactivating meta-directing groups on the benzene group will also have an adverse effect as can be expected for a 
Friedel–Crafts acylation.
Photo-Fries rearrangement
In addition to the ordinary thermal phenyl ester reaction a so-called 
photochemical Photo-Fries rearrangement exists
[6] that involves a 
radical reaction mechanism. This reaction is also possible with deactivating 
substituents
 on the aromatic group. Because the yields are low this procedure is not
 used in commercial production. However, photo-Fries rearrangement may 
occur naturally, for example when a plastic bottle made of polyethylene 
terephthalate (PET) is exposed to the sun, particular to UV light at a 
wavelength of about 310 nm, if the plastic has been heated to 40 degrees
 Celsius or above (as might occur in a car with windows closed on a hot 
summer day). In this case, photolysis of the ester groups would lead to 
leaching of phthalate from the plastic.
[7]
Anionic Fries rearrangment
In addition to Lewis acid and photo-catalysed Fries rearrangements, 
there also exists an anionic Fries rearrangement. In this reaction, the 
aryl ester undergoes ortho-metallation with a strong base, which then 
rearranges in a nucleophilic attack mechanism.
-  Fries, K. ; Finck, G. (1908). "Über Homologe des Cumaranons und ihre Abkömmlinge". Chemische Berichte 41 (3): 4271–4284. doi:10.1002/cber.190804103146.
-  Fries, K.; Pfaffendorf, W. (1910). "Über ein Kondensationsprodukt des Cumaranons und seine Umwandlung in Oxindirubin". Chemische Berichte 43 (1): 212–219. doi:10.1002/cber.19100430131.
-  March, J. Advanced Organic Chemistry, 3rd Ed.; John Wiley & Sons: Chichester, 1985; S. 499ff.
-  Blatt, A. H. Org. React. 1942, 1.
-  Kürti, László; Czakó, Barbara (2005). Strategic Applications of Named Reactions in Organic Synthesis: Background and Detailed Mechanisms. Elsevier Academic Press. p. 181. ISBN 0123694833.
-  Bellus, D. Advances in Photochemistry; John Wiley & Sons: Chichester, 1971; Vol. 8, 109–159.
-  Norma Searle, "Environmental effects on polymeric materials," pp. 313–358, in Plastics and the Environment, edited by Anthony Andrade, Wiley, 2003.
 
 
 
 
 