Aqueous reactions cyclohexane diols

The production of alcohols by the catalytic hydrogenation of carboxylic acids in gas-liquid-particle operation has been described. The process may be based on fixed-bed or on slurry-bed operation. It may be used, for example, for the production of hexane-1,6-diol by the reduction of an aqueous solution of adipic acid, and for the production of a mixture of hexane-1,6-diol, pentane-1,5-diol, and butane-1,4-diol by the reduction of a reaction mixture resulting from cyclohexane oxidation (CIO). 

For the cyclization of dialdehydes, however, its utility seems limited. Being a nitromethane addition product, it can readily undergo retro-nitromethane addition with alkali to give formaldehyde and nitromethane. Thus, it is not surprising that reaction of glutaraldehyde with 2-nitroethanol under the usual conditions (i.e. 1 molar equivalent of sodium hydroxide in aqueous ethanol) should yield 2-nitrocyclohexane-1,3-diol 5), a nitromethane cyclization product With catal5dic amounts of sodium hydroxide (pH 8—9), however, 1-hydroxymethyl-l-nitro-cyclohexane-2-6-diol (80) can be isolated in yields of 24—29%... 

Paraformaldehyde Method. 2,2,4,4-Tetramethyl-1,3-cyclobutanediol. A 2-liter, three-necked flask was fitted with a glass stirrer, thermometer, and Dean-Stark trap which was filled with distilled cyclohexane and attached to a water-cooled condenser. In the flask were placed 216 grams (1.5 moles) of 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-l,3-cyclobutanediol (1 to 1 cis-/trans- mixture), 52.2 grams (1.65 moles, if 95% pure) of paraformaldehyde, 1200 ml. of distilled cyclohexane, and 0.20 gram of methanedisulfonic acid in a 10 to 25% aqueous solution. (The catalyst solution had been treated with Darco G-60 to remove all color.) While this mixture was stirred at 60° C., the paraformaldehyde depolymerized to formaldehyde, which reacted with the diol. Complete reaction of these two components was indicated when they had gone into solution. This required about 1 hour. 

Miscellaneous Cyclohexanes. Various reactions involving hydroxylation of cyclohexane derivatives have been reported. The reaction of cyclohexanol with Fe(C10 )2 and hydrogen peroxide in acidic aqueous MeCN solutions has been shown to be very sensitive to the exact concentrations of Fe", Fe ", and perchloric acid. In MeCN, cis-cyclohexane-l,3-diol forms 72% of the product diol, i.e. hydrogen removal at C-3 occurs with some stereoselectivity cis to the hydroxy-group. In highly aqueous solutions, the dominant oxidation site is at C-4. Evidence is presented for a stepwise process involving an initial directed hydrogen abstraction, oxidation of the radical by Fe" , and stereoselective carbonium ion capture. 

---