Benzenes oxidation

Benzene oxide and compounds derived from it are carcinogenic and can react with DNA to induce mutations This difference m the site of biological oxidation—ring versus side chain—seems to be responsible for the fact that benzene is carcinogenic but toluene is not... 

Maleic anhydride and the two diacid isomers were first prepared in the 1830s (1) but commercial manufacture did not begin until a century later. In 1933 the National Aniline and Chemical Co., Inc., installed a process for maleic anhydride based on benzene oxidation using a vanadium oxide catalyst (2). Maleic acid was available commercially ia 1928 and fumaric acid production began in 1932 by acid-catalyzed isomerization of maleic acid. 

Benzoquinone [106-31-4J, (quinone) has been reported as a by-product of benzene oxidation at 410—430°C. Benzene can be oxidized to phenols... 

Neither the mechanism by which benzene damages bone marrow nor its role in the leukemia process are well understood. It is generally beheved that the toxic factor(s) is a metaboHte of benzene (107). Benzene is oxidized in the fiver to phenol [108-95-2] as the primary metabolite with hydroquinone [123-31-9] catechol [120-80-9] muconic acid [505-70-4] and 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene [533-73-3] as significant secondary metabolites (108). Although the identity of the actual toxic metabolite or combination of metabolites responsible for the hematological abnormalities is not known, evidence suggests that benzene oxide, hydroquinone, benzoquinone, or muconic acid derivatives are possibly the ultimate carcinogenic species (96,103,107—112). 

Benzene monoxide-oxepin and its sulfur analog are treated elsewhere (Chapter 5.1.7) (67AG(E)385). However, we point out here that electron-withdrawing substituents often favor the benzene oxide tautomer. The first study on oxides of the environmentally hazardous polychloro- and polybromo-biphenyls shows that they exist mainly in the benzene oxide form (81JOC3721). Oxides of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) also exist mainly in the fused-ring oxirane form. 

MINDO/3 calculations, 7, 500 Benzene oxide dipole moment, 7, 553 Benzenes substituted... 

Silver nitrate 1,2- and 1,4-di hydroxy-benzene oxidation to corresponding benzoquinones [208]... 

UV irradiation of a mixture of hexafluorobenzene in the presence of oxygen gives Dewar benzene oxide also as a minor product, which undergoes thermal transformation to hexafluorocyclohexa-2,4-dienone [J46] (equation 36)... 

Benzene oxidation is the oldest method to produce maleic anhydride. The reaction occurs at approximately 380°C and atmospheric pressure. A mixture of V2O5/MO3 is the usual catalyst. Benzene conversion reaches 90%, hut selectivity to maleic anhydride is only 50-60% the other 40-50% is completely oxidized to C02 °... 

Oxepin and its derivatives have attracted attention for several reasons. Oxepin is closely related to cycloheptatriene and its aza analog azepine and it is a potential antiaromatic system with 871-elcctrons. Oxepin can undergo valence isomerization to benzene oxide, and the isomeric benzene oxide is the first step in the metabolic oxidation of aromatic compounds by the enzyme monooxygenase. 

Three decades ago the preparation of oxepin represented a considerable synthetic challenge. The theoretical impetus for these efforts was the consideration that oxepin can be regarded as an analog of cyclooctatetraene in the same sense that furan is an analog of benzene. The possibility of such an electronic relationship was supported by molecular orbital calculations suggesting that oxepin might possess a certain amount of aromatic character, despite the fact that it appears to violate the [4n + 2] requirement for aromaticity. By analogy with the closely related cycloheptatriene/norcaradiene system, it was also postulated that oxepin represents a valence tautomer of benzene oxide. Other isomers of oxepin are 7-oxanorbornadiene and 3-oxaquadricyclane.1 Both have been shown to isomerize to oxepin and benzene oxide, respectively (see Section 1.1.2.1.). 

Oxepin is the Hantzsch-Widman name for a seven-membered unsaturated heterocycle with one oxygen atom and the numbering follows the convention for monocyclic heterocycles. However, the isomeric benzene oxide has different numbering in agreement with the 7-oxabi-cyclo[4.1.0]hepta-2,4-diene structure, position 1 now corresponds to position 2 in the oxepin. 

Thermolysis (115°C) or irradiation of the epoxide 3, generated from bicyclo[2.2.0]hexa-2,5-diene ( Dewar benzene") with 3-chloroperoxybenzoic acid, gives a mixture of the valence tautomers oxcpin and benzene oxide together with traces of phenol.111112... 

Numerous substituted 3-oxaquadricyclanes (3-oxatetracyclo[3.2.0.02 7.04,6]heptanes) undergo thermal isomerization to oxepins24 30,121 126 which are often in equilibrium with the corresponding benzene oxides.127 128 The synthesis of the 3-oxaquadricyclanes usually starts with... 

The knowledge of the valence tautomerization of benzene oxides to oxepins12 prompted several groups to synthesize oxepins by dehydrohalogenation of 7-oxabicyclo[4.1.0]heptane derivatives. Numerous examples have been described for the base-catalyzed elimination of hydrogen bromide from the 3,4-dibromo-7-oxabicyclo[4.1.0]heptane system. The reaction products are usually obtained as mixtures of oxepin 1 and benzene oxide 2. The 2,7-bis(hydroxy-methyl)oxepin 1 p obtained by this route can be converted to the 2,7-dicarbaldehyde with man-ganese(IV) oxide.23... 

Oxabicyclo[4.1.0]hept-3-enes with a bromo substituent in position 2 can be converted to oxepins 11 by reaction with an appropriate base such as potassium ter+butoxide or triethylamine (see the experimental procedures for the preparation of the parent system in Houben-Weyl, Vol. 6/ld, pi78 and Vol. 6/4, p462).12,156,157 Usually the reaction products are mixtures of oxepin 11 and benzene oxide 12. In the case of ZerZ-butyl 7-oxabicyclo[4,1.0]hept-3-ene-2-carboxylate, the equilibrium lies completely on the benzene oxide side 12a.158... 

The third double bond can be introduced into the oxepin system by the dehalogenation of appropriate bromine adducts of benzene oxides. 1-Substituted or 3-substituted 2,5-dibromo-7-oxabicyclo[4.1.0]hept-3-enes are converted with sodium iodide in acetone to mixtures of the respective oxepin 1 and benzene oxide 2.12150-156... 

Derivatives with a bridge across the 2,7-bond react in the same fashion with sodium iodide.159,163 A rigid bridge stabilizes the benzene oxide, e.g. formation of 3 and 4,163 whereas a butadienylidene group gives 5,10-epoxy[10]annulene159 (see Section 3.1.1.). 

Due to the instability of the seven-membered heterocyclic ring, oxepin is prone to isomerization reactions to bicyclic heterocycles such as benzene oxide. Irradiation of oxepin with UV light of/. > 310 nm gives the isomeric 2-oxabicyclo[3.2.0]heptadiene(l) in high yield.12 207 At shorter wave lengths, phenol is formed predominantly.207... 

Substituted and benzo-annulated oxepins readily undergo addition of bromine across the nonaromatic double bond. Bromination of 3,6-bridged oxepins can occur in two different ways, either as a 1,2-addition164 or as formal 1,4-addition to the diene system of the corresponding benzene oxide to give products i.129 138-140 164... 

When the valence tautomeric mixture of oxepin and benzene oxide is treated with singlet oxygen, the primary product is the 1,4-endoperoxide 3 which has proven to be too labile for isolation.219 Its formation can be rationalized by a 1,4-addition across the diene system of the benzene oxide structure 3 then rearranges to ba s-3,6,9-trioxatetracyclo[6.1.0.02 4.05 ]nonane (transbenzene trioxide, 4). 

A related reaction is the addition of l,l,2-trichloro-2-nitrosoethene to the oxepin/benzene oxide mixture. The primary adduct cannot be isolated but the rearrangement product 9-(tri-chlorovinyl)-tra . -3,6-dioxa-9-azatetracyclo[6.1.0.0z,4.05,7]nonane (6) is obtained in 17% yield.221... 

Since both oxepin and its valence isomer benzene oxide contain a x-tb-diene structure they are prone to Diels-Alder addition reactions. The dienophiles 4-phenyl- and 4-methyl-4//-l,2,4-triazole-3,5-dione react with substituted oxepins at room temperature to give the 1 1 adducts 7 formed by addition to the diene structure of the respective benzene oxide.149 190,222... 

The equilibrium between oxepin and benzene oxide created interest in performing Diels-Alder reactions trapping one or both isomeric structures.1 The reaction of maleic anhydride or maleic imide with oxepin and substituted derivatives gives products 1 derived from the addition of the dienophile to the benzene oxide structure.2-l4-126 14 9 156 158 228 231-259... 

Even with the highly reactive dienophile cyclohepta-2,6-dien-4-ynone, generated from 1-aminocycloheptatriazol-6-(1 H)-one by lead(IV) acetate oxidation, only the adduct of benzene oxide 3 can be isolated.231... 

In 1-benzoxepins the benzene oxide form is energetically unfavorable. Thus, the adducts 5 formed with dienophiles such as ethenetetracarbonitrile arise from the oxepin structure with the nonaromatic double bonds as diene fragment.233 The yields of these reactions arc almost quantitative. 

Interestingly, in the inverse-electron-demand Diels-Alder reactions of oxepin with various enophiles such as cyclopentadienones and tetrazines the oxepin form, rather than the benzene oxide, undergoes the cycloaddition.234 236 Usually, the central C-C double bond acts as dienophile. Oxepin reacts with 2,5-dimethyl-3,4-diphenylcyclopenta-2,4-dienone to give the cycloadduct 6 across the 4,5-C-C double bond of the heterocycle.234 The adduct resists thermal carbon monoxide elimination but undergoes cycloreversion to oxepin and the cyclopenta-dienone.234... 

The 1,3-dipolar reagent diazomethane reacts with oxepin and substituted derivatives to afford 1 1 or 2 1 adducts 13 or 14 across the C-C double bonds of the isomeric benzene oxides.238 239 In the 1 1 addition product 13, the two heterocycles adopt a cis orientation.238 The nitrogen can be extruded by irradiation of the dihydropyrazole. 

Oxepin has also been converted photochemically to phenol in 74% yield. This reaction occurs under irradiation conditions by which benzene oxide is excited to a triplet state, e.g. by irradiation in acetone as solvent.207 A rare example for a nucleophilic catalysis of the aromatization of an oxepin/benzene oxide to a phenol has been reported for /err-butyl oxepin-4-carboxylate which undergoes a rearrangement reaction in the presence of trimethylamine to give a mixture of /m-butyl 3-hydroxybenzoate (94%) and 4-hydroxybenzoate (6%).243... 

The rearrangement of dimethyl 5-hydroxy-l-bcnzothiepin-3,4-dicarboxylate (9, R = OH), the first example of a thermal rearrangement of a thiepin derivative without loss of sulfur,12 is analogous to the oxepin-benzene oxide-phenol rearrangement (cf. Section D,l. Introduction and Section 1.2.5.1). This process is catalyzed by the acidic hydroxy substituent. In fact, if this functional group is modified by an in situ acetylation (R = OAc), the usual loss of sulfur occurs. 

TV-Substituted l,4-dihydro-l,4-diazocines 6 can be obtained by [TC2S + 2S + 2S] cycloreversion from. mi-benzene diimine (cA-bisazirinofa. c]benzene, diaza-c-bishomobenzene) derivatives 5 at room temperature or slightly elevated temperatures.2 - 5 The syn-benzene diimines (3,8-dia-zatricyclo[5.1.0.02,4]oet-5-enes), which are required for the valence isomerization, are available by two methods from benzene oxide derivatives. 

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