Alkyl sulfonate esters, from alcohols

An advantage that sulfonate esters have over alkyl halides is that their prepara tion from alcohols does not involve any of the bonds to carbon The alcohol oxygen becomes the oxygen that connects the alkyl group to the sulfonyl group Thus the configuration of a sulfonate ester is exactly the same as that of the alcohol from which It was prepared If we wish to study the stereochemistry of nucleophilic substitution m an optically active substrate for example we know that a tosylate ester will have the same configuration and the same optical purity as the alcohol from which it was prepared... 

Fig. 1. Sulfonated and sulfated acid products viscosities after 98% conversions at varying temperatures where the vertical line indicates the maximum temperature for batch sulfonation using SO to minimi2e color deterioration lines A—C represent branched C 2 alkyl ben2ene (BAB) sulfonic acid from SO, oleum (settied), and oleum (whole mixture), respectively lines D and E, lauryl alcohol 3-ethoxylate sulfuric ester (SO ) and lauryl alcohol sulfuric ester...

Sulfonate esters are especially useful substrates in nucleophilic substitution reactions used in synthesis. They have a high level of reactivity, and, unlike alkyl halides, they can be prepared from alcohols by reactions that do not directly involve bonds to the carbon atom imdeigoing substitution. The latter aspect is particularly important in cases in which the stereochemical and structural integrity of the reactant must be maintained. Sulfonate esters are usually prepared by reaction of an alcohol with a sulfonyl halide in the presence of pyridine ... 

Trifluoromethanesulfonates of alkyl and allylic alcohols can be prepared by reaction with trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride in halogenated solvents in the presence of pyridine.3 Since the preparation of sulfonate esters does not disturb the C—O bond, problems of rearrangement or racemization do not arise in the ester formation step. However, sensitive sulfonate esters, such as allylic systems, may be subject to reversible ionization reactions, so appropriate precautions must be taken to ensure structural and stereochemical integrity. Tertiary alkyl sulfonates are neither as easily prepared nor as stable as those from primary and secondary alcohols. Under the standard preparative conditions, tertiary alcohols are likely to be converted to the corresponding alkene. 

Mannitol hexanitrate is obtained by nitration of mannitol with mixed nitric and sulfuric acids. Similarly, nitration of sorbitol using mixed acid produces the hexanitrate when the reaction is conducted at 0—3°C and at —10 to —75°C, the main product is sorbitol pentanitrate (117). Xylitol, ribitol, and L-arabinitol are converted to the pentanitrates by fuming nitric acid and acetic anhydride (118). Phosphate esters of sugar alcohols are obtained by the action of phosphorus oxychloride (119) and by alcoholysis of organic phosphates (120). The 1,6-dibenzene sulfonate of D-mannitol is obtained by the action of benzene sulfonyl chloride in pyridine at 0°C (121). To obtain 1,6-dimethanesulfonyl-D-mannitol free from anhydrides and other by-products, after similar sulfonation with methane sulfonyl chloride and pyridine the remaining hydroxyl groups are acetylated with acetic anhydride and the insoluble acetyl derivative is separated, followed by deacetylation with hydrogen chloride in methanol (122). Alkyl sulfate esters of polyhydric alcohols result from the action of sulfur trioxide—trialkyl phosphates as in the reaction of sorbitol at 34—40°C with sulfur trioxide—triethyl phosphate to form sorbitol hexa(ethylsulfate) (123). 

Industrial surfactants find uses in almost every industry, from asphalt manufacturing to carpet fibers, from pulp and paper production to leather processing. Examples of the types of chemicals used as surfactants are fatty alcohol sulfates, alkanolamides, alkoxylates, sulfosuccinates, amines, quaternaries, phosphate esters, acid esters, blockcopolymers, betaines, imidazolines, alkyl sulfonates, etc. 

Trialkylaluminums, 21 By geminal alkylation of carbonyl groups Dichlorodimethyltitanium, 216 From reduction of alkyl halides, alkyl sulfonates and similar compounds From acetates or other esters Triphenylsilane, 334 From alcohols... 

The preparation of alkyl halides by substitution reactions usually starts from alcohols because alcohols are widely available. Hydroxide ion is a poor leaving group, so the OH must first be converted into a better leaving group, either by protonation in acid or by conversion to a sulfonate or similar ester (see Section 8.9), as illustrated in the following equations ... 

This reaction is analogous to similar methods for the preparation of ethers (methods 113 and 116), Both simple and mixed sulfides may be made from aliphatic mercaptans or thiophenols. The sodium mercaptides are formed from the mercaptans and aqueous or alcoholic solutions of sodium hydroxide or alcoholic sodium ethoxide. Alkylation is effected by halides, alkyl sulfates, or esters of sulfonic acids. The over-all yields of sulfides are usually above 70%. r-Butyl mercaptan is alkylated directly by /-butyl alcohol in strong sulfuric acid to give /-butyl sulfide in 87% yield. ... 

From a historical perspective, the a-(dialkylamino)nitrile anions were the first acyl anion equivalents to undergo systematic investigation. More recent studies indicate that anions of a-(dialkylamino)nitriles derived from aliphatic, aromatic or heteroaromatic aldehydes intercept an array of electrophiles including alkyl halides, alkyl sulfonates, epoxides, aldehydes, ketones, acyl chlorides, chloroformates, unsaturated ketones, unsaturated esters and unsaturated nitriles. Aminonitriles are readily prepared and their anions are formed with a variety of bases such as sodium methoxide, KOH in alcohol, NaH, LDA, PhLi, sodium amide, 70% NaOH and potassium amide. Regeneration of the carbonyl group can be achieved... 

Various sulfuric and phosphoric acid esters have sometimes been used instead of alcohols as starting materials for the preparation of nitriles. Of more general importance are sulfonates, particularly from methane- or p-toluene-sulfonic acid, which react in an 5N2-type substitution with cyanide ions. The most common starting materials are, as described in Section 1.8.1.2.1, alkyl halides, and if their preparation creates problems, the use of sulfonates may be advantageous. The addition of crown ethers or the... 

Solid esters are easily crystallisable materials. It is important to note that esters of alcohols must be recrystallised either from non-hydroxylic solvents (e.g. toluene) or from the alcohol from which the ester is derived. Thus methyl esters should be crystallised from methanol or methanol/toluene, but not from ethanol, n-butanol or other alcohols, in order to avoid alcohol exchange and contamination of the ester with a second ester. Useful solvents for crystallisation are the corresponding alcohols or aqueous alcohols, toluene, toluene/petroleum ether, and chloroform (ethanol-free)/toluene. Esters of carboxylic acids derived from phenols are more difficult to hydrolyse and exchange, hence any alcoholic solvent can be used freely. Sulfonic acid esters of phenols are even more resistant to hydrolysis they can safely be crystallised not only from the above solvents but also from acetic acid, aqueous acetic acid or boiling n-butanol. Note that sulfonic esters of lower alcohols, e.g. methanol, are good alkylating agents. 

As when dialkyl sulfates are used, the products formed from free amines and sulfonic esters are almost always mixtures of all the possible alkylation stages of the amine. Nevertheless, formation of specific products can be favored by choice of techniques. When a solvent is needed alcohol or acetone is usually chosen. 

As noted above, alkyne anions are very useful in Sn2 reactions with alkyl halides, and in acyl addition reactions to a carbonyl.46 Alkyl halides and sulfonate esters (tosylates and mesylates primarily) serve as electrophilic substrates for acetylides. A simple example is taken from Kaiser s synthesis of niphatoxin B, in which propargyl alcohol (36) is treated with butyllithium and then the OTHP derivative of 8-bromo-1-octanol to give a 47% yield of 37.48... 

In 1968, the reaction of carbon dioxide with sodium salts of alcohols was first reported by Nazarov and Chirkina [103]. The authors showed that alkyl carbonate can be obtained by passing dry CO2 through a sodium salt of an alcohol in ethanol. Several years ago Okuda [104] reported preparation of aliphatic carbonates from alcohols and carbon dioxide using organic bases and sulfonate esters. 

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