Benzene ozonolysis

The reaction of ozone with an aromatic compound is considerably slower than the reaction with an alkene. Complete ozonolysis of one mole of benzene with workup under non-oxidative conditions will yield three moles of glyoxal. The selective ozonolysis of particular bonds in appropriate aromatic compounds is used in organic synthesis, for example in the synthesis of a substituted biphenyl 8 from phenanthrene 7 ... 

Besides simple alkyl-substituted sulfoxides, (a-chloroalkyl)sulfoxides have been used as reagents for diastereoselective addition reactions. Thus, a synthesis of enantiomerically pure 2-hydroxy carboxylates is based on the addition of (-)-l-[(l-chlorobutyl)sulfinyl]-4-methyl-benzene (10) to aldehydes433. The sulfoxide, optically pure with respect to the sulfoxide chirality but a mixture of diastereomers with respect to the a-sulfinyl carbon, can be readily deprotonated at — 55 °C. Subsequent addition to aldehydes afforded a mixture of the diastereomers 11A and 11B. Although the diastereoselectivity of the addition reaction is very low, the diastereomers are easily separated by flash chromatography. Thermal elimination of the sulfinyl group in refluxing xylene cleanly afforded the vinyl chlorides 12 A/12B in high chemical yield as a mixture of E- and Z-isomers. After ozonolysis in ethanol, followed by reductive workup, enantiomerically pure ethyl a-hydroxycarboxylates were obtained. 

Ozonolysis was once used to locate the position of a double bond (or bonds) in unsaturated compounds of unknown structure—largely because of the ease of characterisation of the carbonyl products— but has now been superseded by physical methods, e.g. n.m.r. spectroscopy, which are easier and quicker. Benzene forms a triozonide which decomposes to yield three molecules of glyoxal, OHC—CHO the sole reaction of benzene that suggests it may contain three real double bonds in a Kekule structure Alkynes also undergo ozonolysis, but at a much slower rate than alkenes. 

These acid-catalyzed C-glycosylations were successfully extended to the D-ribofuranose series by Sorm and coworkers,148 who utilized the reaction in the first reported synthesis of showdomycin. Thus, treatment of 2,3,5-tri-0-benzoyl-/3-D-ribofuranosyl bromide (81) with 1,2,5-trimethoxybenzene in the presence of zinc oxide gave 2,4,6-trimethoxy-l-(2,3,5-tri-0-benzoyl-/3-D-ribofuranosyl)benzene (196). Ozonolysis of the corresponding acetate derivative, followed by esterification, gave the highly functionalized C-/3-I>ribofuranosyl derivative (197), which was used as a key intermediate in the synthesis of showdomycin (see Section III,l,b). 

Problem 10.22 In the Birch reduction benzene is reduced with an active metal (Na or Li) in alcohol and liquid NHj(-33 °C) to a cyclohexadiene that gives only OCHCH CHO on ozonolysis. What is the reduction product ... 

The kinetics and product distributions of ozonolysis of vinylcyclohexane and methylene cyclohexane have been investigated.162 Steric hindrance of the cyclic substituent largely offsets electronic effects hi determining the rate of reaction. The main products of ozonation of catechols were quinones, while catechol acetals gave rise to compounds with an opened benzene ring.163 The ozonolysis of azoles such as pyrroles, oxazoles, and imidazoles has been reviewed.164... 

Methylcyclohexenone 281 upon oxidation with Mn(OAc)3 in benzene under reflux gave 282, which reacted with phenylmagnesium chloride and CuBr-Me2S to form two isomeric ketones 283 and 284. Further, 283 has been transformed to vinylsilane 285 followed by its hydrolysis to form the free alcohol 286, which in turn was alkylated with methoxyallyl bromide to give 287. Oxalic acid-mediated deprotection of 287 led to the formation of the ketone 288. Ozonolysis of 288 in methanol afforded the fused 1,2,5-trioxepine 289 in low yields (Scheme 66) <1997BML2357>. 

Remarkably, thermolysis of the Baylis-Hillman adducts 311 (R1 = alkyl or aryl Rz = Ac, CN, CC Me) in toluene at 210 °C in a sealed tube gave stereoselectively the cyclized product (+)-312, which included incorporation of the elements of the solvent and, when Rz = Ac, a single isomer was obtained (Equation 33). The yields were moderate (37-56%) and when RZ = CN and C02Me some racemization occurred. Similar results were obtained when either p-xylene or mesitylene was used but no reaction occurred when chlorobenzene or anisole was used. Unsaturated rings are obtained in similar yields and stereoselectivity if the N-substituent is an alkyne. In addition, benzene thiol reacted in boiling benzene in the presence of AIBN to give 313, which on ozonolysis yielded the cyclic ketones 314 ( = 1-3) in 52-70% yield <2001JOC1612>. 

The chemical reactivity of (1) and (2) is a dichotomy. Benzenoid character is indicated in normal electrophilic substitution (nitration, sulfonation and catalyzed halogenation, Section 4.26.4.1) and in the lack of dienophile reactivity in the Diels-Alder reaction. On the other hand, typical dienoid character is exhibited in the facile ozonolysis of the benzene ring of (1) and in the easy, non-catalyzed tetra-addition of halogen (see Section 4.26.4.1). 

Problem 10.24 (a) Draw two Kekulc structures for 1,2-dimethy(benzene (o-xylene). (b) Why are these structures not isomers What are they (c) Give the carbonyl products formed on ozonolysis. M... 

On the other hand, studies on the ozonolysis of substituted benzenes by van Dijk (4) and Wibaut (5, 6) seem to indicate that the ozone attack... 

In addition to the ozonolysis of alkenes and a few aromatic compounds [93, 104], ozone oxidizes other groups. Thus saturated hydrocarbons containing tertiary hydrogen atoms are converted into tertiary alcohols [105, 106], and some alkenes are transformed into epoxides [107] or a,p-unsat-urated ketones [108], Benzene rings are oxidized to carboxylic groups [109, ethers [110] and aldehyde acetals [111] to esters aldehydes to peroxy acids [772] sulfides to sulfoxides and sulfones [775] phosphines and phosphites to phosphine oxides and phosphates, respectively [775] and organomer-cury compounds to ketones or carboxylic acids [114]. 

The example depicted below indicates preferential cleavage of the electron-rich enol ether double bond over the trisubstituted one by the electrophilic ozone. Thus, Birch reduction of methoxy-substituted benzenes followed by ozonolysis of the resultant enol ethers provides a powerful route to functionally substituted (Z)... 

Herzberg and Wibaut (, I4) have studied the ozonization and the ozonolysis of y-pyrone and its methyl homologs. Although exact measurements of the reaction velocities were not possible, it was found that the y-pyrones react with ozone at a faster rate than benzene or toluene. On the other hand, the velocity of the ozonization of y-pyrones is much smaller than would be expected for a compound containing two isolated double bonds. 

The reactivity of 120 is much less than that of either a normal alkene or a dithioacetal. Attempts to hydrogenolyze (see Section IV,3) or reduce 120 with Raney nickel, to hydrolyze the dithioacetal (see Section IV,1) with mercury(II) chloride (even in the presence of an overwhelming excess of the reagent), and to ozonize the double bond at —78°, produce only the starting material an analytical sample was prepared by extended treatment of the crude product with a concentrated, aqueous, alkaline solution of potassium permanganate at the reflux temperature.20 Acetolysis, ozonolysis, or brominolysis of 120 at room temperature affords diphenyl disulfide, and extended oxidation with hydrogen peroxide in acetone, with peroxypropionic acid, and with peroxyacetic acid, produces benzene-sulfonic acid, methyl phenyl sulfone, and an uncharacterized explosive, respectively the products occur as intractable mixtures, and the yields are invariably low. 

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