Anhydrides Perkin reactions, acetic anhydride

In the Perkin reaction, acetic anhydride condenses with an aromatic aldehyde to yield a cinnamic acid. The reaction takes place by a mixed carbonyl condensation of the anhydride with the aldehyde to yield an a,/l-unsaturated intermediate that undergoes hydrolysis to yield the cinnamic acid. What is the structure of the unsaturated intermediate ... 

Condensation with Other Carbonyl Compounds. Carboxy Anhydrides (Perkin reaction). Carboxy anhydrides, such as acetic acid anhydride, are usually condensed with aldehydes which do not contain active a-H atoms. Although other aldehydes could be used, in this type of reaction, the formation of undesirable byproducts restricts the choice of aldehydes. With an aldehyde containing no a-H atoms, the basic catalyst will react with the a-H atoms of the carboxy anhydride and produce a basic anion, as shown in equation 11. 

Cinnamic acid is usually prepared by Perkin s reaction, benzaldehyde being heated with sodium acetate in the presence of acetic anhydride. It is probable that the benzaldehyde and the acetic anhydride combine under the catalytic action of the sodium acetate, and the product then readily loses water to give mono-benzylidene acetic anhydride (. ). The latter, when subsequently... 

Basic catalysts other than alkali acetates have been employed in the Perkin reaction thus salicylaldehyde condenses with acetic anhydride in the presence of triethylamine to yield coumarin (tlie lactone of the cis form of o-hydroxy-cinnamio acid) together with some of the acetyl derivative of the trans form (o-acetoxycoumaric acid) ... 

Furfural condenses with acetic anhydride and potassiuiu acetate to give furylacrylic acid (compare Perkin reaction, Cinnamic Acid, Section IV, 124) ... 

Perkin Reaction. A product of significant commercial importance, coumarin [91-64-5] is made by the reaction of sahcylaldehyde with acetic anhydride and sodium acetate, a Perkin reaction (61). 

Manufacture. The most widely employed method for the commercial synthesis of (H)-cinnamic acid uti1i2es ben2aldehyde, acetic anhydride, and anhydrous sodium or potassium acetate in a condensation reaction commonly referred to as the Perkin reaction (11). 

Perkin Reaction. Perkin first syathesized coumaria ia 1868 by reactioa of the sodium salt of sahcylaldehyde with acetic anhydride (44) and it was foundlater that the reaction could be made from sahcylaldehyde [90-02-8] itself by usiag sodium acetate as a catalyst, through the iatermediary of i7j -(9-acetoxycianamic acid [50363-92-3]. 

The cinnamic acid is readily prepared by heating benzaldehyde with acetic anhydride and sodium acetate (the Perkin Reaction) (Figure 16.2). 

A variant of the Perkin reaction is the Erlenmeyer-Plochl-azlactone synthesis By condensation of an aromatic aldehyde 1 with an N-acyl glycine 5 in the presence of sodium acetate and acetic anhydride, an azlactone 6 is obtained via the following mechanism ... 

Michie, J.K. and Miller, J.A., A re-examination of the reactions of benzaldehyde with phosphorus trichloride in the presence of acetic anhydride, /. Chem. Soc., Perkin I, 785, 1981. 

When benzaldehyde is condensed with hippuric acid in the presence of acetic anhydride a Perkin s reaction takes place and benzoyl-a-amido-cinnamic acid is formed —... 

Formylfuran behaves in a very similar manner to benzaldehyde and undergoes the usual reactions of an aromatic aldehyde, e.g. (i) the Cannizzaro reaction with cone, sodium hydroxide to give furan-2-ylmethanol and the sodium salt of furoic acid, (ii) the Perkin reaction with acetic anhydride and sodium acetate to yield an aldol product that dehydrates to 3-(furan-2-yl)propenoic acid, and (iii) a condensation with potassium cyanide in alcoholic solution to form furoin (under these conditions, benzaldehyde undergoes the benzoin condensation) (Scheme 6.32). 

Hydrogenation of benzaldehyde yields benzyl alcohol, condensation with aliphatic aldehydes leads to additional fragrance substances or their unsaturated intermediates. Unsaturated araliphatic acids are obtained through the Perkin reaction, for example, the reaction with acetic anhydride to give cinnamic acid. 

Production. Coumarin is currently produced by Perkin synthesis from salicyl-aldehyde. In the presence of sodium acetate, salicylaldehyde reacts with acetic anhydride to produce coumarin and acetic acid. The reaction is carried out in the liquid phase at elevated temperature. 

A further route to the cycloocta[l,2-c 5,6-c ]difuran system makes use of a Perkin-type reaction. Condensation of furan-3,4-dicarboxaldehyde with furan-3,4-diacetic acid in acetic anhydride and triethylamine at room temperature, followed by esterification with methanol and sulfuric acid, gave... 

Diphenylocta-1,3,5,7-tetraene can be prepared (Expt 6.140) by condensing two mols of cinnamaldehyde with succinic acid in the presence of acetic anhydride and lead oxide, in a reaction which bears similarities with those of the Perkin type discussed above. 

The analysis depicted for (64) reveals that the synthesis of benzofuran involves the conversion of salicylaldehyde into the corresponding aryloxyacetic acid by reaction with sodium chloroacetate in the presence of alkali, followed by heating with a mixture of acetic anhydride, acetic acid and sodium acetate (Expt 8.24). The ensuing cyclisation may be regarded as an internal Perkin reaction (Section 6.12.3, p. 1036) accompanied by a decarboxylative dehydration step. 

A condensation occurs between 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and malonic ester20 and in a similar way, two molecules of malonic ester react with furan 2,5-dialdehyde.88 A condensation product, XXXV, has also been obtained with hydantoin.89 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural and its acetyl derivative undergo the Perkin reaction with sodium acetate and acetic anhydride giving 5-acetoxymethylfuran 2-acrylic acid (XXXVI).70 Similar products of the same reaction are obtained from 5-methyl-furfural71 and 5,5 -diformyl-l,l -furylmethyl ether (XXVII).61,72... 

Enols or enolates from anhydrides are not used very often in aldol reactions other than in one important application, usually known as the Perkin reaction. An acid anhydride, such as acetic anhydride, is combined with a non-enolizable aldehyde and a weak base, usually the salt of the acid. This base is used so that nucleophilic attack on the anhydride does no hami, simply regenerating the anhydride. q... 

In the Perkin reaction, the carbanion is generated by abstraction of an a-hydrogen from an acid anhydride, with the anion of the corresponding acid acting as the base. For example, reaction of benzaldehyde with acetic anhydride in the presence of sodium acetate at high temperature yields 3-phenylpropenoic acid (Scheme 6.22). Although the mech-... 

In the Pschorr synthesis (Scheme 12.12), a Perkin reaction (see Chapter 6) between 2-nitrobenzaldehyde and sodium phenylacetate in the presence of acetic anhydride yields 3-(2-nitrophenyl)-2-phenyl-propenoic acid. Reduction of the nitro group and deamination of the resulting amine via its diazonium salt (see Chapter 8) is accompanied by cyclization. Thermal decarboxylation completes the sequence. 

Classically, this separation of roles was accomplished by utilizing substrates that differed drastically in their ability to form enolate anions. In fact, the various name reactions mentioned above are distinguished not by basic differences in mechanism, but by the nature of the components preferentially utilized as substrates. For example, in the Perkin reaction, the condensation of an aromatic aldehyde with an aliphatic acid anhydride is based on the fact that the electrophilic component, e.g. benzaldehyde, lacks a-hydrogens and therefore is incapable of forming an enolate. At the same time the utilized electrophile, acetic anhydride, contains a carbonyl group with reduced propensity to interact with nucleophiles. Hence, it is incapable of undergoing self-condensa-... 

Cinnamic Acid by Perkin s Reaction.—Cinnamic acid has the constitution assigned to it above as is proven by the following synthesis from benzaldehyde by condensation with sodium acetate in the presence of acetic anhydride. 

The reaction of benzaldehyde with phenylacetic acid to produce a mixture of the a-carboxylic acid derivatives of Z- and -stilbene a form of aldol condensation known as the Perkin reaction, is effected by heating a mixture of the components with acetic anhydride and triethylamine. In the course of the reaction the phenylacetic acid is probably present both as anion and as the mixed anhydride resulting from equilibration with acetic anhydride. A reflux period of 5 h specified in an early procedure has been shortened by a factor of 10 by restriction of the amount of the volatile acetic anhydride, use of an excess of the less expensive, high-boiling aldehyde component, and use of a condenser that permits some evaporation and consequent elevation of the reflux temperature. 

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