Dehydrations alcohols

C,flH2o02- White crystals, m.p. 168-171 °C. Prepared from deoxyanisoin by ethylation, conversion to the alcohol, dehydration and demethylation. It is an oestrogenic substance which is highly active when administered orally. It is used for treating menopausal symptoms, for the suppression of lactation and for treatment of cancer of the prostate. 

Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and phosphoric acid (H3PO4) are the acids most frequently used m alcohol dehydrations Potassium hydrogen sulfate (KHSO4) is also often used... 

Some biochemical processes involve alcohol dehydration as a key step An example IS the conversion of a compound called 3 dehydroquimc acid to 3 dehydroshikimic acid... 

In addition to being regioselective alcohol dehydrations are stereoselective A stereo selective reaction is one m which a single starting material can yield two or more stereoisomeric products but gives one of them m greater amounts than any other Alcohol dehydrations tend to produce the more stable stereoisomer of an alkene Dehydration of 3 pentanol for example yields a mixture of trans 2 pentene and cis 2 pentene m which the more stable trans stereoisomer predominates... 

As noted earlier (Section 4 10) primary carbocations are too high m energy to be intermediates m most chemical reactions If primary alcohols don t form primary car bocations then how do they undergo elimination s A modification of our general mech amsm for alcohol dehydration offers a reasonable explanation For primary alcohols it is... 

There is a strong similarity between the mechanism shown m Eigure 5 12 and the one shown for alcohol dehydration m Eigure 5 6 The mam difference between the dehy dration of 2 methyl 2 butanol and the dehydrohalogenation of 2 bromo 2 methylbutane IS the source of the carbocation When the alcohol is the substrate it is the correspond mg alkyloxonmm ion that dissociates to form the carbocation The alkyl halide ionizes directly to the carbocation... 

Like alcohol dehydrations El reactions of alkyl halides can be accompanied by carbocation rearrangements Eliminations by the E2 mechanism on the other hand nor mally proceed without rearrangement Consequently if one wishes to prepare an alkene from an alkyl halide conditions favorable to E2 elimination should be chosen In prac tice this simply means carrying out the reaction m the presence of a strong base... 

Alkene synthesis via alcohol dehydration is complicated by carbocation rearrangements A less stable carbocation can rearrange to a more sta ble one by an alkyl group migration or by a hydride shift opening the possibility for alkene formation from two different carbocations... 

Acidic Cation-Exchange Resins. Brmnsted acid catalytic activity is responsible for the successful use of acidic cation-exchange resins, which are also soHd acids. Cation-exchange catalysts are used in esterification, acetal synthesis, ester alcoholysis, acetal alcoholysis, alcohol dehydration, ester hydrolysis, and sucrose inversion. The soHd acid type permits simplified procedures when high boiling and viscous compounds are involved because the catalyst can be separated from the products by simple filtration. Unsaturated acids and alcohols that can polymerise in the presence of proton acids can thus be esterified directiy and without polymerisation. 

Figure 2 illustrates the three-step MIBK process employed by Hibernia Scholven (83). This process is designed to permit the intermediate recovery of refined diacetone alcohol and mesityl oxide. In the first step acetone and dilute sodium hydroxide are fed continuously to a reactor at low temperature and with a reactor residence time of approximately one hour. The product is then stabilized with phosphoric acid and stripped of unreacted acetone to yield a cmde diacetone alcohol stream. More phosphoric acid is then added, and the diacetone alcohol dehydrated to mesityl oxide in a distillation column. Mesityl oxide is recovered overhead in this column and fed to a further distillation column where residual acetone is removed and recycled to yield a tails stream containing 98—99% mesityl oxide. The mesityl oxide is then hydrogenated to MIBK in a reactive distillation conducted at atmospheric pressure and 110°C. Simultaneous hydrogenation and rectification are achieved in a column fitted with a palladium catalyst bed, and yields of mesityl oxide to MIBK exceeding 96% are obtained. 

Methyl Isoamyl Ketone. Methyl isoamyl ketone [110-12-3] (5-methyl-2-hexanone) is a colorless Hquid with a mild odor. It is produced by the condensation of acetone and isobutyraldehyde (164) in three steps which proceed via the keto-alcohol dehydration to 5-methyl-3-hexen-2-one, and hydrogenation to 5-methyl-2-hexanone. 

A number of smaller but nevertheless important apphcations in which activated alumina is used as the catalyst substrate include alcohol dehydration, olefin isomerization, hydrogenation, oxidation, and polymerization (43). 

These reactions can be cataly2ed by bases, eg, pyridine, or by Lewis acids, eg, 2inc chloride. In the case of asymmetric alcohols, steric control, ie, inversion, racemi2ation, or retention of configuration at the reaction site, can be achieved by the choice of reaction conditions (173,174). Some alcohols dehydrate to olefins when treated with thionyl chloride and pyridine. 

Butyl alcohol, obtained from hydration of Raffinate 1, can be dehydrated and subsequently refined to high purity, polymer-grade isobutylene (25). Alternatively, the isobutylene from alcohol dehydration can react with methanol in the presence of an acid catalyst to give methyl /-butyl ether (MTBE) gasoHne additive (see Ethers organic). 

The reaction gives poor yields of ethers with secondary and tertiary alcohols dehydration to form the corresponding olefin is a more favorable reaction. The reaction fails for the production of diaryl ethers from phenols. 

Anhydrous alcohol is preferable, but a good grade of commercial absolute alcohol may be used without appreciably lowering the yield. The authors used alcohol dehydrated by means of magnesium. ... 

A large variety of methods is applicable to the formation of isolated double bonds. This permits selection of reagents compatible with other functionality present. Alcohol dehydration, ester elimination and other nonreductive p eliminations are the most common methods. Reductive elimination of halo-hydrins, vic-dihalides, etc., and of a variety of ketone derivatives has also been used. 

A reagent which is primarily of interest as a means of converting alcohols into fluorides has been used to dehydrate C-11 alcohols in high yields. 1 la-Alcohols dehydrate rapidly with 2-chloro-l-diethylamino-l,l,2-trifluoro-ethane reagent at low temperature, while 11 j5-alcohols require refluxing methylene chloride. Traces of fluoro compounds have been detected in the products. 

These common features suggest that carbocations are key intermediates in alcohol dehydrations, just as they are in the reaction of alcohols with hydrogen halides. Figure 5.6 portrays a three-step mechanism for the acid-catalyzed dehydration of tert-butyl alcohol. Steps 1 and 2 desaibe the generation of tert-butyl cation by a process similar- to that which led to its formation as an intermediate in the reaction of tert-butyl alcohol with hydrogen chloride. 

---