Acetonitrile catalysts

Hydroquinone production is feasible via the copper-catalyzed oxidation of phenol with dioxygen to p-benzoquinone, with subsequent reduction [105,106], which can be effected using the same CuCl/acetonitrile catalyst under hydrogen. 

Keywords N-(Isocyanoimino)triphenylphosphorane, aromatic bis-aldehydes, aromatic carboxylic acids, acetonitrile, catalyst-free, room temperature, cyclocondensation, one-pot multicomponent, intramoleculer aza-Witting reaction, 1,3,4-oxadiazoles... 

Interestingly, at very low concentrations of micellised Qi(DS)2, the rate of the reaction of 5.1a with 5.2 was observed to be zero-order in 5.1 a and only depending on the concentration of Cu(DS)2 and 5.2. This is akin to the turn-over and saturation kinetics exhibited by enzymes. The acceleration relative to the reaction in organic media in the absence of catalyst, also approaches enzyme-like magnitudes compared to the process in acetonitrile (Chapter 2), Cu(DS)2 micelles accelerate the Diels-Alder reaction between 5.1a and 5.2 by a factor of 1.8710 . This extremely high catalytic efficiency shows how a combination of a beneficial aqueous solvent effect, Lewis-acid catalysis and micellar catalysis can lead to tremendous accelerations. 

Most, if not all, of the acetonitrile that was produced commercially in the United States in 1995 was isolated as a by-product from the manufacture of acrylonitrile by propylene ammoxidation. The amount of acetonitrile produced in an acrylonitrile plant depends on the ammoxidation catalyst that is used, but the ratio of acetonitrile acrylonitrile usually is ca 2—3 100. The acetonitrile is recovered as the water azeotrope, dried, and purified by distillation (28). U.S. capacity (1994) is ca 23,000 t/yr. 

Acetonitrile also is used as a catalyst and as an ingredient in transition-metal complex catalysts (35,36). There are many uses for it in the photographic industry and for the extraction and refining of copper and by-product ammonium sulfate (37—39). It also is used for dyeing textiles and in coating compositions (40,41). It is an effective stabilizer for chlorinated solvents, particularly in the presence of aluminum, and it has some appflcation in... 

Alkylation. Ben2otrifluoride can also be alkylated, eg, chloromethyl methyl ether—chlorosulfonic acid forms 3-(trifluoromethyl)ben2yl chloride [705-29-3] (303,304), which can also be made from / -xylene by a chlorination—fluorination sequence (305). Exchange cyanation of this product in the presence of phase-transfer catalysts gives 3-(trifluoromethylphenyl)acetonitrile [2338-76-3] (304,305), a key intermediate to the herbicides flurtamone... 

Acrylonitrile. Acrylonitrile is produced by reacting propylene, ammonia, and owgeu (air) in a single flmdized bed of a complex catalyst. Known as the SOHIO process, this process was first operated commercially in 1960. In addition to acrylonitrile, significant quantities of HCN and acetonitrile are also produced. This process is also exothermic. Temperature control is achieved by raising steam inside vertical tubes immersed in the bed [Veatch, Hydrocarbon Proce.ss. Pet. Refiner, 41, 18 (November 1962)]. 

The catalyst, 3-benzyl-5-(2-hydroxyethyl )-4-methyl-l, 3-thiazoHum chloride, is supplied by Fluka AG, Buchs, Switzerland, and by Tridom Chemical, Inc., Hauppauge, New York. The thiazolium salt may also be prepared as described below by benzylation of 5-(2-hydroxyethyl)-4-methyl-l,3-thiazole which is commercially available from E. Merck, Darmstadt, West Germany, and Columbia Organic Chemicals Co., Inc., Columbia, SC. The acetonitrile used by the checkers was dried over Linde 3A molecular sieves and distilled under nitrogen, bp 77-78°C. The same yield of thiazolium salt was obtained by the checkers when benzyl chloride and acetonitrile from commercial sources were used without purification. 

An important biological process is the basis for a general coupling method of aldehydes into symmetncal acyloins, such as BETYROIN. The key catalyst is 5-(2-hydroxyethyl)-4-methyl-l,3-thiazole, an analog of thiamin. Condensation of ketones and aldehydes with excess acetonitrile can be accomplished in a simple way to produce a,p-unsaturated nitriles Cyclohexanone leads to CY-CLOHEXYLIDENEACETONITRILE while benzaldehyde gives CINNA-MONITRILE. 

Hydrolysis of 2-perfluoroalkylethyl iodides in the presence of nitrites also gives 2-perfluoroalkylethanols [5/] (equation 51). A variety of solvents can be used, but acetonitrile appears the most effective. Solvents can be avoided by using a betaine surfactant as a phase-transfer catalyst. 

Aqueous hydrofluoric acid dissolved in acetonitrile is a good catalyst for intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions [9] This reagent promotes highly stereoselective cyclizations of different triene esters (equation 8) The use of other acids, such as hydrochloric, acetic, and trifluoroacetic acid, results in complete polymerization of the starting trienes [9] (equation 8)... 

We had no good way to predict if they would be liquid, but we were lucky that many were. The class of cations that were the most attractive candidates was that of the dialkylimidazolium salts, and our particular favorite was l-ethyl-3-methylimid-azolium [EMIM]. [EMIMJCl mixed with AICI3 made ionic liquids with melting temperatures below room temperature over a wide range of compositions [8]. We determined chemical and physical properties once again, and demonstrated some new battery concepts based on this well behaved new electrolyte. We and others also tried some organic reactions, such as Eriedel-Crafts chemistry, and found the ionic liquids to be excellent both as solvents and as catalysts [9]. It appeared to act like acetonitrile, except that is was totally ionic and nonvolatile. 

Aziridines 180 (Scheme 3.65) react with acetonitrile and BF3 Et20, a Lewis catalyst, to give imidazolines 181 in 65-95% yield [98], Under the same reaction conditions, however, the C-3 phenyl-substituted aziridine 182 (Scheme 3.66) afforded oxazoline 183 in 59% yield [97]. 

The metal catalyst is not absolutely required for the aziridination reaction, and other positive nitrogen sources may also be used. After some years of optimization of the reactions of alkenes with positive nitrogen sources in the presence of bromine equivalents, Sharpless et al. reported the utility of chloramine-T in alkene aziridinations [24]. Electron-rich or electron-neutral alkenes react with the anhydrous chloramines and phenyltrimethylammonium tribromide in acetonitrile at ambient temperature, with allylic alcohols being particularly good substrates for the reaction (Schemes 4.18 and 4.19). 

When a mixture of aldehydes and (Z)-l-ethylthio-l-trimethylsilyloxy-l-propene is added slowly to a solution of tin(Il) triflate and 10-20 mol% of the chiral diamine 4 in acetonitrile, /1-silyloxy thioesters 5 are obtained in high simple diastereoselection and induced stereoselectivity. Thus, the chiral auxiliary reagent can be used in substoichiometric amount. A rationale is given by the catalytic cycle shown below, whereby the chiral tin(II) catalyst 6 is liberated once the complex 7 has formed33. 

Combination of nickel bromide (or nickel acetylacetonate) and A. A -dibutylnorephcdrinc catalyzed the enantioselective conjugate addition of dialkylzincs to a./Tunsaturated ketones to afford optically active //-substituted ketones in up to ca. 50% ee53. Use of the nickel(II) bipyridyl-chiral ligand complex in acetonitrile/toluenc as an in situ prepared catalyst system afforded the //-substituted ketones 2, from aryl-substituted enones 1, in up to 90% ee54. 

A number of approaches have been tried for modified halo-de-diazoniations using l-aryl-3,3-dialkyltriazenes, which form diazonium ions in an acid-catalyzed hydrolysis (see Sec. 13.4). Treatment of such triazenes with trimethylsilyl halides in acetonitrile at 60 °C resulted in the rapid evolution of nitrogen and in the formation of aryl halides (Ku and Barrio, 1981) without an electron transfer reagent or another catalyst. Yields with silyl bromide and with silyl iodide were 60-95%. The authors explain the reaction as shown in (Scheme 10-30). The formation of the intermediate is indicated by higher yields if electron-withdrawing substituents (X = CN, COCH3) are present. In the opinion of the present author, it is likely that the dissociation of this intermediate is not a concerted reaction, but that the dissociation of the A-aryl bond to form an aryl cation is followed by the addition of the halide. The reaction is therefore mechanistically not related to the homolytic halo-de-diazoniations. 

A suitable catalyst for carboxy-de-diazoniations was found by Matsuda s group in their work on arylations of alkenes. As in the case of alkene arylations (Sec. 10.9), they used Pd11 acetate (2 mole %) and carbon monoxide (9 atm) for reactions with benzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate and sodium acetate in acetonitrile as solvent at room temperature (Nagira et al., 1980 82-85% yield). Similar results were obtained... 

Silyl enol ethers and ketene acetals derived from ketones, aldehydes, esters and lactones are converted into the corresponding o/i-unsaturated derivatives on treatment with allyl carbonates in high yields in the catalytic presence of the palladium-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane complex (32). A phosphinc-free catalyst gives higher selectivity in certain cases, such as those involving ketene acetals. Nitrile solvents, such as acetonitrile, are essential for success. 

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