Alkyls from alcohols

A special apparatus (Fig. Ill, 40,1) renders the preparation of iodides from alcohols a very simple operation. The special features of the apparatus are —(i) a wide bored (3-4 mm.) stopcock A which considerably reduces the danger of crystallisation in the bore of the tap of the iodine from the hot alcoholic solution (ii) a reservoir B for the solid iodine and possessing a capacity sufficiently large to hold all the alkyl iodide produced (iii) a wide tube C which permits the alcohol vapour fix)m the flask D to pass rapidly into the reservoir B, thus ensuring that the iodine is dissolved by alcohol which is almost at the boiling point. An improved apparatus is shown in Fig. Ill, 40, 2, a and b here a... 

Place a mixture of 0-5 g. of finely powdered thiourea, 0-5 g. of the alkyl halide and 5 ml. of alcohol in a test-tube or small flask equipped with a reflux condenser. Reflux the mixture for a j)eriod depending upon the nature of the halide primary alkyl bromides and iodides, 10-20 minutes (according to the molecular weight) secondary alkyl bromides or iodides, 2-3 hours alkyl chlorides, 3-5 hours polymethy lene dibromides or di-iodides, 20-50 minutes. Then add 0 5 g. of picric acid, boil until a clear solution is obtained, and cool. If no precipitate is obtained, add a few drops of water. RecrystaUise the resulting S-alkyl-iso-thiuronium picrate from alcohol. 

We also found N-nitropyridinium salts such as C5HjN N02BF4 as convenient transfer nitrating reagents in selective, clean reaetions. Transfer nitrations are equally applicable to C- as well as to 0-nitra-tions, allowing, for example, safe, acid-free preparation of alkyl nitrates and polynitrates from alcohols (including nitroglycerine). 

Preparation of Alkyl Halides from Alcohols and Hydrogen Halides... 

PREPARATION OF ALKYL HALIDES FROM ALCOHOLS AND HYDROGEN HALIDES... 

We 11 begin with the preparation of alkyl halides from alcohols by reaction with hydro gen halides... 

Chemical reactivity and functional group transformations involving the preparation of alkyl halides from alcohols and from alkanes are the mam themes of this chapter Although the conversions of an alcohol or an alkane to an alkyl halide are both classi tied as substitutions they proceed by very different mechanisms... 

We now have a new problem Where does the necessary alkene come from Alkenes are prepared from alcohols by acid catalyzed dehydration (Section 5 9) or from alkyl halides by dehydrohalogenation (Section 5 14) Because our designated starting material is tert butyl alcohol we can combine its dehydration with bromohydrm formation to give the correct sequence of steps... 

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... 

Section 8 14 Nucleophilic substitution can occur with leaving groups other than halide Alkyl p toluenesulfonates (tosylates) which are prepared from alcohols by reaction with p toulenesulfonyl chloride are often used... 

A reaction useful only with sub strates that do not undergo E2 elimi nation readily It is rarely used for the synthesis of alcohols since alkyl halides are normally prepared from alcohols... 

Both reactants m the Williamson ether synthesis usually originate m alcohol pre cursors Sodium and potassium alkoxides are prepared by reaction of an alcohol with the appropriate metal and alkyl halides are most commonly made from alcohols by reaction with a hydrogen halide (Section 4 7) thionyl chloride (Section 4 13) or phosphorus tri bromide (Section 4 13) Alternatively alkyl p toluenesulfonates may be used m place of alkyl halides alkyl p toluenesulfonates are also prepared from alcohols as their imme diate precursors (Section 8 14)... 

Metal alkoxides are compounds in which a metal is attached to one or more alkyl groups by an oxygen atom. Alkoxides are derived from alcohols by the replacement of the hydroxyl hydrogen by metal. 

A considerable amount of hydrobromic acid is consumed in the manufacture of inorganic bromides, as well as in the synthesis of alkyl bromides from alcohols. The acid can also be used to hydrobrominate olefins (qv). The addition can take place by an ionic mechanism, usually in a polar solvent, according to Markownikoff s rule to yield a secondary alkyl bromide. Under the influence of a free-radical catalyst, in aprotic, nonpolar solvents, dry hydrogen bromide reacts with an a-olefin to produce a primary alkyl bromide as the predominant product. Primary alkyl bromides are useful in synthesizing other compounds and are 40—60 times as reactive as the corresponding chlorides (6). 

Formation of Ethers. Very high ether yields can be obtained from alcohols and phenols with dialkyl sulfates in CH2CI2 and concentrated NaOH—tetrabutylammonium chloride at room temperature or slightly elevated temperature within 1—5 h (18). Using excess aqueous caustic—N(C4H2)4HS04, unsymmetrical aUphatic ethers can be prepared with alkyl chlorides at 25—70°C in 3—4 h (19) (see Ethers). 

WILLIAMSON Ether synthesis Synthesis of ethers from alcoholates with alkyl halides... 

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 ... 

Anhydrous HBr is available in cylinders (6.8-kg and 68-kg capacity) under its own vapour pressure (24 atm at 25°C) and in lecture bottles (450-g capacity). Its main industrial use is in the manufacture of inorganic bromides and the synthesis of alkyl bromides either from alcohols or by direct addition to alkenes. HBr also catalyses numerous organic reactions. Aqueous HBr (48% and 62%) is available as a corrosive pale-yellow liquid in drums or in large tank trailers (15 0001 and 38 0001). 

The required xanthates 1 can be prepared from alcohols 5 by reaction with carbon disulfide in the presence of sodium hydroxide and subsequent alkylation of the intermediate sodium xanthate 6. Often methyl iodide is used as the alkylating agent ... 

K. Rettinger, V. Karl, H.-G. Schmarx, E. Dettmar, U. Hener and A. Mosandl, Chirospeciflc analysis of 2-alkyl-branched alcohols, acids and esters chirality evaluation of 2-methylbutanoates from apples and pineapples , Phytochem. Anal. 2 184-188 (1991). 

The most generally useful method for preparing alkyl halides is to make them from alcohols, which themselves can be obtained from carbonyl compounds, as we ll see in Sections 17.4 and 17.5. Because of the importance of the process, many different methods have been developed to transform alcohols into alkyl halides. The simplest method is to treat the alcohol with HC1, HBr, or HI. For rea-... 

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