Alkyl hydroperoxides Alkylation

Metal alkoxides undergo alkoxide exchange with alcoholic compounds such as alcohols, hydro-xamic acids, and alkyl hydroperoxides. Alkyl hydroperoxides themselves do not epoxidize olefins. However, hydroperoxides coordinated to a metal ion are activated by coordination of the distal oxygen (O2) and undergo epoxidation (Scheme 1). When the olefin is an allylic alcohol, both hydroperoxide and olefin are coordinated to the metal ion and the epoxidation occurs swiftly in an intramolecular manner.22 Thus, the epoxidation of an allylic alcohol proceeds selectively in the presence of an isolated olefin.23,24 In this metal-mediated epoxidation of allylic alcohols, some alkoxide(s) (—OR) do not participate in the epoxidation. Therefore, if such bystander alkoxide(s) are replaced with optically active ones, the epoxidation is expected to be enantioselective. Indeed, Yamada et al.25 and Sharp less et al.26 independently reported the epoxidation of allylic alcohols using Mo02(acac)2 modified with V-methyl-ephedrine and VO (acac)2 modified with an optically active hydroxamic acid as the catalyst, respectively, albeit with modest enantioselectivity. 

Tetrafluoroammonium hexafluoromanganate, 4378 Tetrafluoroammonium hexafluoronickelate, 4379 Tetrafluoroammonium hexafluoroxenate, 4380 Tetranitromethane, 0543 Titanium tetraperchlorate, 4164 1,1,1 -Triacetoxy-1,2-benziodoxol-3-one, 3604 Trifluoromethyl hypofluorite, 0352 Trimethylsilyl chlorochromate, 1297 Trioxygen difluoride , 4317 Uranium hexafluoride, 4369 Vanadium trinitrate oxide, 4758 Vanadium(V) oxide, 4860 Vanadyl perchlorate, 4146 Xenon hexafluoride, 4371 Xenon tetrafluoride, 4347 Xenon tetrafluoride oxide, 4340 Xenon tetraoxide, 4857 Xenon trioxide, 4851 Xenon(II) pentafluoroorthoselenate, 4376 Xenon(II) pentafluoroorthotellurate, 4377 Zinc permanganate, 4705 ACETYLENIC PEROXIDES ACYL HYPOHALITES ALKYL HYDROPEROXIDES ALKYL TRIALKYLLEAD PEROXIDES AMINIUM IODATES AND PERIODATES AMMINECHROMIUM PEROXOCOMPLEXES BIS (FLUOROOXY)PERHALOALKANES BLEACHING POWDER CHLORITE SALTS... 

ACETYLENIC PEROXIDES, ACYL HYPOHALITES ALKYL HYDROPEROXIDES, ALKYL TRIALKYLLEAD PEROXIDES AMINIUM IODATES AND PERIODATES. AMMINECHROMIUM PEROXOCOMPLEXES... 

Alkyl hydroperoxides. Alkylation of this easily handled hydroperoxide with alkyl halides furnishes mixed peroxides that are selectively hydrolyzed in aqueous acetic acid. The reagent is obtained in 53% yield by ozonolysis of 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene in neat 2-methoxyethanol, followed by dilution with water, extraction with EtOAc, and evaporation. It should be noted that the simpler 2-methoxyprop-2-yl... 

Transition Metai-Catalyzed Epoxidation with Alkyl Hydroperoxides. Alkyl hydroperoxides are attractive oxidants on a technical scale because they can be produced by autoxidation of branched alkanes with oxygen. This concept has been realized on the largest scale in the so-called Halcon process, i.e., the transition metal-catalyzed epoxidation of propylene to propylene oxide (35) (Fig. 9). Homogeneous and heterogeneous titanium, vanadium, and molybdenum catalysts are capable of catalyzing the C=C-epoxidation by alkyl hydroperoxide (for a review see Ref. 36). 

Casting of acrylic polymers differs from that of phenol-formaldehyde polymers in that considerably more polymerization must take place. Further, the time, temperature, and catalyst must be carefully controlled. Benzoyl peroxide is usually employed as a catalyst. However, other materials can be used, such as diacyl peroxides, aldehyde peroxides, ketone peroxides, alkyl hydroperoxides, alkyl peresters, and alkyl acid peresters. 

Kharasch called this the peroxide effect and demonstrated that it could occur even if peroxides were not deliberately added to the reaction mixture Unless alkenes are pro tected from atmospheric oxygen they become contaminated with small amounts of alkyl hydroperoxides compounds of the type ROOH These alkyl hydroperoxides act m the same way as deliberately added peroxides promoting addition m the direction opposite to that predicted by Markovmkov s rule... 

PEROXIDES AND PEROXIDE COMPOUNDS - ORGANIC PEROXIDES] (Vol 18) tert-Alkyl hydroperoxides... 

Cumene Hydroperoxide Process for Phenol and Acetone. Ben2ene is alkylated to cumene, which is oxidized to cumene hydroperoxide, which ia turn is cleaved to phenol and acetone. 

Propylene oxide [75-56-9] is manufactured by either the chlorohydrin process or the peroxidation (coproduct) process. In the chlorohydrin process, chlorine, propylene, and water are combined to make propylene chlorohydrin, which then reacts with inorganic base to yield the oxide. The peroxidation process converts either isobutane or ethylbenzene direcdy to an alkyl hydroperoxide which then reacts with propylene to make propylene oxide, and /-butyl alcohol or methylbenzyl alcohol, respectively. Table 1 Hsts producers of propylene glycols in the United States. 

Usually, organoboranes are sensitive to oxygen. Simple trialkylboranes are spontaneously flammable in contact with air. Nevertheless, under carefully controlled conditions the reaction of organoboranes with oxygen can be used for the preparation of alcohols or alkyl hydroperoxides (228,229). Aldehydes are produced by oxidation of primary alkylboranes with pyridinium chi orochrom ate (188). Chromic acid at pH < 3 transforms secondary alkyl and cycloalkylboranes into ketones pyridinium chi orochrom ate can also be used (230,231). A convenient procedure for the direct conversion of terminal alkenes into carboxyUc acids employs hydroboration with dibromoborane—dimethyl sulfide and oxidation of the intermediate alkyldibromoborane with chromium trioxide in 90% aqueous acetic acid (232,233). 

As the temperature is increased through the NTC zone, the contribution of alkylperoxy radicals falls. Littie alkyl hydroperoxide is made and hydrogen peroxide decomposition makes a greater contribution to radical generation. Eventually the rate goes through a minimum. At this point, reaction 2 is highly displaced to the left and alkyl radicals are the dominant radical species. 

Reactions 33 and 35 constitute the two principal reactions of alkyl hydroperoxides with metal complexes and are the most common pathway for catalysis of LPOs (2). Both manganese and cobalt are especially effective in these reactions. There is extensive evidence that the oxidation of intermediate ketones is enhanced by a manganese catalyst, probably through an enol mechanism (34,96,183—185). 

Chromium compounds decompose primary and secondary hydroperoxides to the corresponding carbonyl compounds, both homogeneously and heterogeneously (187—191). The mechanism of chromium catalyst interaction with hydroperoxides may involve generation of hexavalent chromium in the form of an alkyl chromate, which decomposes heterolyticaHy to give ketone (192). The oxidation of alcohol intermediates may also proceed through chromate ester intermediates (193). Therefore, chromium catalysis tends to increase the ketone alcohol ratio in the product (194,195). 

This is basically the same type of induced decomposition that occurs with other peroxide classes, eg, the dialkyl peioxydicaibonates and diacyl peroxides. Table 8. Commercial rerf-Alkyl Hydroperoxides ... 

The addition of an oxygen atom to an olefin to generate an epoxide is often catalyzed by soluble molybdenum complexes. The use of alkyl hydroperoxides such as tert-huty hydroperoxide leads to the efficient production of propylene oxide (qv) from propylene in the so-called Oxirane (Halcon or ARCO) process (79). 

Organic peroxides can be classified according to peroxide stmcture. There are seven principal classes hydroperoxides dialkyl peroxides a-oxygen substitued alkyl hydroperoxides and dialkyl peroxides primary and secondary ozonides peroxyacids diacyl peroxides (acyl and organosulfonyl peroxides) and alkyl peroxyesters (peroxycarboxylates, peroxysulfonates, and peroxyphosphates). 

There are two main subclasses ofhydroperoxid.es organic (alkyl) hydroperoxides, ie, ROOH, and organomineral hydroperoxides, ie, Q(OOH), where Q is sihcon (43), germanium, tin, or antimony. The alkyl group in ROOH can be primary, secondary, or tertiary. Except for ethylbenzene hydroperoxide, only alkyl hydroperoxides are commercially important. 

Physical Properties. Some physical properties of alkyl hydroperoxides (in order of increasing carbon content) are Hsted in Table 1 (44). Descriptions of hydroperoxides are given in the chemical Hterature (1,4—6,10,28,43,45). 

Alkyl hydroperoxides can be Hquids or soHds. Those having low molecular weight are soluble in water and are explosive in the pure state. As the molecular weight increases, ie, as the active oxygen content is reduced, water solubiUty and the violence of decomposition decrease. Alkyl hydroperoxides are stronger acids than the corresponding alcohols and have acidities similar to those of phenols, Alkyl hydroperoxides can be purified through their alkali metal salts (28). 

Alkyl hydroperoxides form stable alkaU metal salts with caustic however, when equimolar amounts of the hydroperoxide and its sodium salt are present in aqueous solution, rapid decomposition to tert-AcohoX and oxygen occurs (28). 

Acids react with alkyl hydroperoxides in two different ways, depending on the hydroperoxide stmcture and the acid strength (45). 

Therefore, first-order, decomposition rates for alkyl hydroperoxides, ie, from oxygen—oxygen bond homolysis, are vaUd only if induced decomposition reactions... 

Although primary and secondary alkyl hydroperoxides are attacked by free radicals, as in equations 8 and 9, such reactions are not chain scission reactions since the alkylperoxy radicals terminate by disproportionation without forming the new radicals needed to continue the chain (53). Overall decomposition rates are faster than the tme first-order rates if radical-induced decompositions are not suppressed. 

An example of a reaction involving transfer of two electrons from the metal is the reduction of alkyl hydroperoxides with staimous chloride (10) (eq. 13). 

The reactions of alkyl hydroperoxides with ferrous ion (eq. 11) generate alkoxy radicals. These free-radical initiator systems are used industrially for the emulsion polymerization and copolymerization of vinyl monomers, eg, butadiene—styrene. The use of hydroperoxides in the presence of transition-metal ions to synthesize a large variety of products has been reviewed (48,51). 

The ultimate fate of the oxygen-centered radicals generated from alkyl hydroperoxides depends on the decomposition environment. In vinyl monomers, hydroperoxides can be used as efficient sources of free radicals because vinyl monomers generally are efficient radical scavengers which effectively suppress induced decomposition. When induced decomposition occurs, the hydroperoxide is decomposed with no net increase of radicals in the system (see eqs. 8, 9, and 10). Hydroperoxides usually are not effective free-radical initiators since radical-induced decompositions significantly decrease the efficiency of radical generation. Thermal decomposition-rate studies in dilute solutions show that alkyl hydroperoxides have 10-h HLTs of 133—172°C. 

Alkyl hydroperoxides are among the most thermally stable organic peroxides. However, hydroperoxides are sensitive to chain decomposition reactions initiated by radicals and/or transition-metal ions. Such decompositions, if not controlled, can be auto accelerating and sometimes can lead to violent decompositions when neat hydroperoxides or concentrated solutions of hydroperoxides are involved. 

Alkoxy radicals from hydroperoxides can undergo a -scission reaction (eq. 2) to yield an alkyl radical and a ketone. The higher stabiUty of the generated alkyl radical compared to that of the parent alkoxy radical provides the driving force for this reaction, and the R group involved is the one that forms the most stable alkyl radical. 

In the preparation of hydroperoxides from hydrogen peroxide, dialkyl peroxides usually form as by-products from the alkylation of the hydroperoxide in the reaction mixture. The reactivity of the substrate (olefin or RX) with hydrogen peroxide is the principal restriction in the process. If elevated temperatures or strongly acidic or strongly basic conditions are required, extensive decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide and the hydroperoxide can occur. 

Other compounds, eg, azoalkanes, acetone, etc, that yield alkyl radicals either thermally or by uv irradiation have been used with molecular oxygen to prepare alkyl hydroperoxides (r56). 

Many organic peroxides of metals have been hydrolyzed to alkyl hydroperoxides. The alkylperoxy derivatives of aluminum, antimony, arsenic, boron, cadmium, germanium, lead, magnesium, phosphoms, silicon, tin, and zinc yield alkyl hydroperoxides upon hydrolysis (10,33,60,61). 

Saponification of alkyl peroxyesters yields alkyl hydroperoxides and carboxylic acids or their alkali metal salts. a-Ether-substituted peroxides can be hydrolyzed to the unsubstituted alkyl hydroperoxides, eg, tert-huty hydroperoxide from tert-huty 2-oxacyclohexyl peroxide [28627-46-5] (62) ... 

Other Hydroperoxides. Several hydrotrioxides including alkyl hydrotrioxides, R—OOOH, have been reported (63,64). There is strong spectroscopic evidence that a-cumyl hydrotrioxide [82951-48-2] is produced in the low temperature ozonization of cumene. Homolytic decomposition of a-cumyl hydrotrioxide in cumene/acetone-hindered phenol resulted in cumyl alcohol as the only organic product (65). Based on the... 

The susceptibihty of dialkyl peroxides to acids and bases depends on peroxide stmcture and the type and strength of the acid or base. In dilute aqueous sulfuric acid (<50%) di-Z fZ-butyl peroxide is resistant to reaction whereas in concentrated sulfuric acid this peroxide gradually forms polyisobutylene. In 50 wt % methanolic sulfuric acid, Z fZ-butyl methyl ether is produced in high yield (66). In acidic environments, unsymmetrical acychc alkyl aralkyl peroxides undergo carbon—oxygen fission, forming acychc alkyl hydroperoxides and aralkyl carbonium ions. The latter react with nucleophiles,... 

Most organomineral peroxides are hydrolytically unstable and readily hydrol2ye to alkyl hydroperoxides or hydrogen peroxide (33,34,44,60,61) ... 

Consequendy, most organomineral peroxides must be prepared and stored under anhydrous conditions. In addition, anhydrous hydrogen chloride converts alkyl-substituted organomineral peroxides to alkyl hydroperoxides (33). 

Synthesis. Dialkyl peroxides are prepared by the reaction of various substrates with hydrogen peroxide, hydroperoxides, or oxygen (69). They also have been obtained from reactions with other organic peroxides. For example, dialkyl peroxides have been prepared by the reaction of hydrogen peroxide and alkyl hydroperoxides with alMating agents, eg, RX and olefins (33,66,97) (eqs. 24—27). 

Reaction conditions depend on the reactants and usually involve acid or base catalysis. Examples of X include sulfate, acid sulfate, alkane- or arenesulfonate, chloride, bromide, hydroxyl, alkoxide, perchlorate, etc. RX can also be an alkyl orthoformate or alkyl carboxylate. The reaction of cycHc alkylating agents, eg, epoxides and a2iridines, with sodium or potassium salts of alkyl hydroperoxides also promotes formation of dialkyl peroxides (44,66). Olefinic alkylating agents include acycHc and cycHc olefinic hydrocarbons, vinyl and isopropenyl ethers, enamines, A[-vinylamides, vinyl sulfonates, divinyl sulfone, and a, P-unsaturated compounds, eg, methyl acrylate, mesityl oxide, acrylamide, and acrylonitrile (44,66). 

Primary and secondary alkyl haUdes and sulfonates react with potassium superoxide to form dialkyl peroxides (101,102) (eq. 28). Dia2oalkanes, eg, dia2omethane, have been used to alkylate hydroperoxides (66) (eq. 29). 

Unsymmetrical dialkyl peroxides are obtained by the reaction of alkyl hydroperoxides with a substrate, ie, R H, from which a hydrogen can be abstracted readily in the presence of certain cobalt, copper, or manganese salts (eq. 30). However, this process is not efficient since two moles of the hydroperoxide are consumed per mole of dialkyl peroxide produced. In addition, side reactions involving free radicals produce undesired by-products (44,66). 

Syimnetiical dialkyl peroxides have been prepared from alkyl hydroperoxides and lead tetraacetate. If tertiary dihydroperoxides are used, then cychc... 

Organomineral peroxides can be prepared by the reaction of certain organometaUic or organometaHoid compounds, R QX, with hydrogen peroxide or alkyl hydroperoxides ... 

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