6! 8 9 tions. The rate of reaction was considerably retarded when an electron-withdrawing group was attached to the aromatic ring (run 6 in Table I). Thus, methyl 5-bromo-2- methoxybenzoate (3) did not afford the corresponding dehalogenated product but gave methyl 5-bromosalicylate (4) under the standard conditions. Notably, with compounds which tends to form a benzylic cation like the aldehyde 5 and the dithioacetal6 the reaction was ...