Ethers, alkylation with

Ethers. The catalytic effect of boron trifluoride on alkylations with ethers involves an acid-base reaction between... 

Oxonium salt formation. Shake up 0 5 ml. of ether with 1 ml. of cone. HCl and note that a clear solution is obtained owing to the formation of a water-soluble oxonium salt. Note that aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons do not behave in this way. In general diaryl ethers and alkyl aryl ethers are also insoluble in cone. HCl. 

Methyl and ethyl ethers of phenols are most conveniently prepared by alkylation with dimethyl sulphate and diethyl sulphate respectively in weakly alkaline solution, for example ... 

In contrast to alkylations with most of the alkyl halides, the reactions of anions with ethylene oxide in organic solvents such as diethyl ether and THE... 

The formation of the above anions ("enolate type) depend on equilibria between the carbon compounds, the base, and the solvent. To ensure a substantial concentration of the anionic synthons in solution the pA" of both the conjugated acid of the base and of the solvent must be higher than the pAT -value of the carbon compound. Alkali hydroxides in water (p/T, 16), alkoxides in the corresponding alcohols (pAT, 20), sodium amide in liquid ammonia (pATj 35), dimsyl sodium in dimethyl sulfoxide (pAT, = 35), sodium hydride, lithium amides, or lithium alkyls in ether or hydrocarbon solvents (pAT, > 40) are common combinations used in synthesis. Sometimes the bases (e.g. methoxides, amides, lithium alkyls) react as nucleophiles, in other words they do not abstract a proton, but their anion undergoes addition and substitution reactions with the carbon compound. If such is the case, sterically hindered bases are employed. A few examples are given below (H.O. House, 1972 I. Kuwajima, 1976). 

In the prostaglandin synthesis shown, silyl enol ether 216, after transmetaJ-lation with Pd(II), undergoes tandem intramolecular and intermolecular alkene insertions to yield 217[205], It should be noted that a different mechanism (palladation of the alkene, rather than palladium enolate formation) has been proposed for this reaction, because the corresponding alkyl enol ethers, instead of the silyl ethers, undergo a similar cyclization[20I],... 

The first step in the reaction of an alkyl aryl ether with a hydrogen halide is pro tonation of oxygen to form an alkylaryloxonium ion... 

Ethers are formed under conditions of the Williamson ether synthesis Methyl ethers of carbohydrates are efficiently prepared by alkylation with methyl iodide m the presence of silver oxide... 

The hydroxyl groups can be alkylated with the usual alkylating agents. To obtain aryl ethers a reverse treatment is used, such as treatment of butynediol toluenesulfonate or dibromobutyne with a phenol (44). Alkylene oxides give ether alcohols (46). 

When using a cation source in conjunction with a Friedel-Crafts acid the concentration of growing centers is most often difficult to measure and remains unknown. By the use of stable carbocation salts (for instance trityl and tropyhum hexachloroantimonate) the uncertainty of the concentration of initiating cations is eliminated. Due to the highly reproducible rates, stable carbocation salts have been used in kinetic studies. Their use, however, is limited to cationicaHy fairly reactive monomers (eg, A/-vinylcarbazole, -methoxystyrene, alkyl vinyl ethers) since they are too stable and therefore ineffective initiators of less reactive monomers, such as isobutylene, styrene, and dienes. 

Cationic Polymerization. For decades cationic polymerization has been used commercially to polymerize isobutylene and alkyl vinyl ethers, which do not respond to free-radical or anionic addition (see Elastomers, synthetic-BUTYLRUBBEr). More recently, development has led to the point where living cationic chains can be made, with many of the advantages described above for anionic polymerization (27,28). 

As shown in Table 3, the glass-transition temperatures of the amorphous straight-chain alkyl vinyl ether homopolymers decrease with increasing length of the side chain. Also, the melting points of the semicrystalline poly(alkyl vinyl ether)s increase with increasing side-chain branching. 

Pyrazolin-5-ones with an exocyclic double bond at the 4-position (369 X = CMe2> react as heterodienes towards alkyl vinyl ethers (77G91). The kinetics of this Diels-Alder reaction giving pyrazolopyrans (370) have been studied. 

Bu4N F , THF, 25°, 1 h, >90% yield. Fluoride ion is very basic especially under anhydrous conditions and thus may cause side reactions with base-sensitive substrates. ArOTBDMS ethers can be cleaved in the presence of alkyl OTBDMS ethers. ... 

Monoesterification of a symmetrical dihydroxy aromatic compound can be effected by reaction with polymer-bound benzoyl chloride (Pyr, benzene, reflux, 15 h) to give a polymer-bound benzoate, which can be alkylated with diazomethane to form, after basic hydrolysis (0.5 M NaOH, dioxane, H2O, 25°, 20 h, or 60°, 3 h), a monomethyl ether. ... 

Alkyl silyl ethers are cleaved by a variety of reagents Whether the silicon-oxygen or the carbon-oxygen bond is cleaved depends on the nature of the reagent used Treatment of alkoxysilanes with electrophilic reagents like antimony tri-fluonde, 40% hydrofluonc acid, or a boron tnfluonde-ether complex results in the cleavage of the silicon-oxygen bond to form mono-, di-, and tnfluorosiloxanes or silanes [19, 20, 21) (equations 18-20)... 

Benzyl and alkyl tnalkylsilyl ethers undergo clean fluonnation to give good yields of benzyl and alkyl fluorides, respectively, when reacted with a combination of d quaternary ammonium fluoride and methanesulfonyl orp- toluenesulfonyl fluoride. The reactions are applicable strictly to a primary carbon-oxygen bond, secondary and tertiary alkyl silyl ethers remain intact or, under forcing conditions, aie dehydrated to olefins [29] (equation 22)... 

In the electrochemical oxidation of alkyl tetrahalogenophenyl ethers with hydrogen atoms at para positions, coupled products are obtamed [67 (equation 59) Under the same conditions, the 2,5-dihydrogen analogue gives no identifiable product [67]... 

In analogy to alkylation with chloroalkyl ethers, methyl ot-methoxyperfluoro-propionate reacts with 2,6-dimethylphenol to give the bispheiiol [7] (equation 7)... 

Alkylation of enamines with epoxides or acetoxybromoalkanes provided intermediates for cyclic enol ethers (668) and branched chain sugars were obtained by enamine alkylation (669). Sodium enolates of vinylogous amides underwent carbon and nitrogen methylation (570), while vicinal endiamines formed bis-quaternary amonium salts (647). Reactions of enamines with a cyclopropenyl cation gave alkylated imonium products (57/), and 2-benzylidene-3-methylbenzothiazoline was shown to undergo enamine alkylation and acylation (572). A cyclic enamine was alkylated with methylbromoacetate and the product reduced with sodium borohydride to the key intermediate in a synthesis of the quebrachamine skeleton (57i). 

Aryl and alkyl trimethylsilyl ethers can often be cleaved by refluxing in aqueous methanol, an advantage for acid- or base-sensitive substrates. The ethers are stable to Grignard and Wittig reactions and to reduction with lithium aluminum hydride at —15°. Aryl -butyldimethylsilyl ethers and other sterically more demanding silyl ethers require acid- or fluoride ion-catalyzed hydrolysis for removal. Increased steric bulk also improves their stability to a much harsher set of conditions. An excellent review of the selective deprotection of alkyl silyl ethers and aryl silyl ethers has been published. ... 

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