Carboxylate ion, reaction with alkyl halides

The haloalkane dehydrogenase is believed to act by using one of its side-chain carboxylates to displace chloride by an Sn2 mechanism. (Recall the reaction of carboxylate ions with alkyl halides from Table 8.1.)... 

Alpha hydrogen atoms of carbonyl compounds are weakly acidic and can be removed by strong bases, such as lithium diisopropylamide (LDA), to yield nucleophilic enolate ions. The most important reaction of enolate ions is their Sn2 alkylation with alkyl halides. The malonic ester synthesis converts an alkyl halide into a carboxylic acid with the addition of two carbon atoms. Similarly, the acetoacetic ester synthesis converts an alkyl halide into a methyl ketone. In addition, many carbonyl compounds, including ketones, esters, and nitriles, can be directly alkylated by treatment with LDA and an alkyl halide. 

Especially for large-scale work, esters may be more safely and efficiently prepared by reaction of carboxylate salts with alkyl halides or tosylates. Carboxylate anions are not very reactive nucleophiles so the best results are obtained in polar aprotic solvents45 or with crown ether catalysts.46 The reactivity order for carboxylate salts is Na+ < K+ < Rb+ < Cs+. Cesium carboxylates are especially useful in polar aprotic solvents. The enhanced reactivity of the cesium salts is due to both high solubility and minimal ion pairing with the anion 47 Acetone is a good solvent for reaction of carboxylate anions with alkyl iodides48 Cesium fluoride in DMF is another useful... 

Although the hydrolysis of alkyl halides to alcohols has been extensively investigated, an alternative two-step sequence involving substitution with carboxylate ion is more practical for the preparation of alcohols. Activation of the carboxylate anion prepared by the reaction of the acid with a base can be achieved (i) by use of a polar aprotic solvent and (ii) by use of aprotic apolar solvents under phase transfer catalysis, polymer conditions, or with crown ethers. 

Because nitriles can be prepared from the reaction of an alkyl halide with cyanide ion (Section 10.4), you now know how to convert an alkyl halide into a carboxylic acid. Notice that the carboxylic acid has one more carbon than the alkyl halide. 

Therefore, diethyl malonate is deprotonated but not ethyl acetate. Moreover, the ethoxide ion is strong enough to deprotonate the diethyl malonate quantitatively such that all the diethyl malonate is converted to the enolate ion. This avoids the possibility of any competing Claisen reaction since that reaction needs the presence of unaltered ester. Diethyl malonate can be converted quantitatively to its enolate with ethoxide ion, alkylated with an alkyl halide, treated with another equivalent of base, then alkylated with a second different alkyl halide (Fig.R). Subsequent hydrolysis and decarboxylation of the diethyl ester yields the carboxylic acid. The decarboxylation mechanism (Fig.S) is dependent on the presence of the other carbonyl group at the P-position. 

Section 21 7 The malonic ester synthesis is related to the acetoacetic ester synthesis Alkyl halides (RX) are converted to carboxylic acids of the type RCH2COOH by reaction with the enolate ion derived from diethyl mal onate followed by saponification and decarboxylation... 

One-electron oxidation of carboxylate ions generates acyloxy radicals, which undergo decarboxylation. Such electron-transfer reactions can be effected by strong one-electron oxidants, such as Mn(HI), Ag(II), Ce(IV), and Pb(IV) These metal ions are also capable of oxidizing the radical intermediate, so the products are those expected from carbocations. The oxidative decarboxylation by Pb(IV) in the presence of halide salts leads to alkyl halides. For example, oxidation of pentanoic acid with lead tetraacetate in the presence of lithium chloride gives 1-chlorobutane in 71% yield ... 

A chain mechanism is proposed for this reaction. The first step is oxidation of a carboxylate ion coordinated to Pb(IV), with formation of alkyl radical, carbon dioxide, and Pb(III). The alkyl radical then abstracts halogen from a Pb(IV) complex, generating a Pb(IIl) species that decomposes to Pb(II) and an alkyl radical. This alkyl radical can continue the chain process. The step involving abstraction of halide from a complex with a change in metal-ion oxidation state is a ligand-transfer type reaction. 

Nitriles are similar in some respects to carboxylic acids and are prepared either by SN2 reaction of an alkyl halide with cyanide ion or by dehydration of an amide. Nitriles undergo nucleophilic addition to the polar C=N bond in the same way that carbonyl compounds do. The most important reactions of nitriles are their hydrolysis to carboxylic acids, reduction to primary amines, and reaction with organometallic reagents to yield ketones. 

Esters are usually prepared from carboxylic acids by the methods already discussed. Thus, carboxylic acids are converted directly into esters by SK2 reaction of a carboxyfate ion with a primary alkyl halide or by Fischer esterification of a carboxylic acid with an alcohol in the presence of a mineral acid catalyst. In addition, acid chlorides are converted into esters by treatment with an alcohol in the presence of base (Section 21.4). 

Fewer examples are reported for organic electrode reactions some alkyl halides were catalytically reduced at electrodes coated with tetrakis-p-aminophenylporphy-rin carboxylate ions are oxidized at a triarylamine polymer and Os(bipy)3 in a Nafion film catalytically oxidizes ascorbic acid Frequently, modified electrodes fail to give catalytic currents for catalyst substrate combinations that do work in the homogeneous case even when good permeability of the film is proven... 

A carboxylic acid (not the salt) can be the nucleophile if F is present. Mesylates are readily displaced, for example, by benzoic acid/CsF. Dihalides have been converted to diesters by this method. A COOH group can be conveniently protected by reaction of its ion with a phenacyl bromide (ArCOCH2Br). The resulting ester is easily cleaved when desired with zinc and acetic acid. Dialkyl carbonates can be prepared without phosgene (see 10-21) by phase-transfer catalyzed treatment of primary alkyl halides with dry KHCO3 and K2C03- ... 

Two methods for converting carboxylic acids to esters fall into the mechanistic group under discussion the reaction of carboxylic acids with diazo compounds, especially diazomethane and alkylation of carboxylate anions by halides or sulfonates. The esterification of carboxylic acids with diazomethane is a very fast and clean reaction.41 The alkylating agent is the extremely reactive methyldiazonium ion, which is generated by proton transfer from the carboxylic acid to diazomethane. The collapse of the resulting ion pair with loss of nitrogen is extremely rapid. 

Many other examples of synthetic equivalent groups have been developed. For example, in Chapter 6 we discussed the use of diene and dienophiles with masked functionality in the Diels-Alder reaction. It should be recognized that there is no absolute difference between what is termed a reagent and a synthetic equivalent group. For example, we think of potassium cyanide as a reagent, but the cyanide ion is a nucleophilic equivalent of a carboxy group. This reactivity is evident in the classical preparation of carboxylic acids from alkyl halides via nitrile intermediates. 

A second interfacial exchange reaction of the o-acylcobalt complex with hydroxide ion leads to the production of the alkanecarboxylate anion, which migrates into the aqueous phase, leaving the cobalt tetracarbonyl anion in the organic phase for subsequent reaction (Scheme 8.2). Optimum yields of the carboxylic acids are obtained with ca. 40 1 ratio of the alkyl halide to dicobalt octacarbonyl. Co(Ph,P)2Cl2 can also be used and has the advantage that the cobalt can be recycled easily [5]. 

These are best regarded as SN1 reactions, in which the leaving group is the carboxylate anion. The point is brought out very well by Moffat and Hunt s comparison79 of the solvolyses of /-alkyl trifluoroacetates in 70% aqueous acetone with the reactions of the corresponding /-alkyl halides (Table 26). The activation parameters, and the fate of the carbonium ion, as measured by the percentage of olefin formed by the parallel El reaction, are closely similar for the two types of substrate. 

The disconnection underlying this procedure is an alkyl-oxygen fission and not the acyl-oxygen fission as in the reactions discussed above. The non-nucleophilic base used in this reaction is l,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) which converts the carboxylic acid into its carboxylate ion but does not interact in a competing substitution reaction with the alkyl halide. The ester-forming reaction may therefore be regarded as an SN2 reaction between the carboxylate ion and the alkyl halide.162... 

The same disconnection 41 can be used for carboxylic acids with CO2 as the electrophile for a Grignard reagent 40. Dry ice (solid CO2) is particularly convenient for these reactions. Switching polarity by FGI to the nitrile 42, the same disconnection now uses cyanide ion as the nucleophile but the same alkyl halide 39 that was used to make the Grignard reagent. Mechanistic considerations should decide between these alternatives. 

Nucleophilic substitutions reactions are those reactions in which the substitution of one nucleophile for another is involved. Alkyl halides, carboxylic acids, and carboxylic acid derivatives undergo nucleophilic substitution. However, the mechanisms involved for alkyl halides are quite different from those involved for carboxylic acids and their derivatives. The reaction of a methoxide ion with ethanoyl chloride is a nucleophilic substitution reaction (Following fig.). In it one nucleophile (the methoxide ion) substitutes another nucleophile Cl. ... 

Lastly, the carboxylic acid can be converted to a carboxylate ion and then treated with an alkyl halide (Following fig.). The reaction involves the SN2 nucleophilic substitution of an alkyl halide and so the reaction works best with primary alkyl halides. 

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