Benzoic acid hydroxylation

Gallardo-Donaire and Martin described a formal copper-catalyzed C(sp )—H hydroxylation assisted by benzoic acids. Hydroxylated arenes are prepared under... 

Synthetic phenol capacity in the United States was reported to be ca 1.6 x 10 t/yr in 1989 (206), almost completely based on the cumene process (see Cumene Phenol). Some synthetic phenol [108-95-2] is made from toluene by a process developed by The Dow Chemical Company (2,299—301). Toluene [108-88-3] is oxidized to benzoic acid in a conventional LPO process. Liquid-phase oxidative decarboxylation with a copper-containing catalyst gives phenol in high yield (2,299—304). The phenoHc hydroxyl group is located ortho to the position previously occupied by the carboxyl group of benzoic acid (2,299,301,305). This provides a means to produce meta-substituted phenols otherwise difficult to make (2,306). VPOs for the oxidative decarboxylation of benzoic acid have also been reported (2,307—309). Although the mechanism appears to be similar to the LPO scheme (309), the VPO reaction is reported not to work for toluic acids (310). 

The hydroxyl group of the resulting phenol is situated immediately adjacent to where the carboxyl group was previously located. This same Hquid-phase copper oxidation process chemistry has been suggested for the production of cresols by the oxidation of toluic acids. y -Cresol would be formed by the oxidation of either ortho or para toluic acids a mixture of 0- and -cresols would be produced from y -toluic acid (6). A process involving the vapor-phase catalytic oxidation of benzoic acid to phenol has been proposed, but no plants have ever been built utilizing this technology (27). 

Aconitine contains four methoxyl groups and three hydroxyl groups (triacetyl derivative, m.p. 207-8°). On hydrolysis by water under pressure, or by boiling with dilute acid, it loses 1 mol. of acetic acid and forms benzoylaconine, whilst hydrolysis by alkalis eliminates both acetic and benzoic acids and yields aconine. 

Localized positive charge in hydroxyl-protonated benzoic acid... 

Toliiic anilide, on hydrolysis, forms toluic acid and aniline, whereas beii2oic toluide yields benzoic acid and toluidine. It follows therefoie that, in the original compound, the first contains the hydroxyl neaier the phenyl group and the second nearer the tolyl group. 

The 6-endo activated epoxy alcohol cyclization process was also expected to play a central role in the annulation of pyran ring G of the natural product (see Scheme 22). Silylation of the free secondary hydroxyl group in compound 131 furnishes, after hydrobora-tion/oxidation of the double bond, compound 132. Swern oxidation of alcohol 132 produces an aldehyde which reacts efficiently with (ethoxycarbonylethylidene)triphenylphosphorane in the presence of a catalytic amount of benzoic acid in benzene at 50 °C, furnishing... 

Hydroxyl elimination is necessary for the formation of benzaldehyde and benzoic acid derivatives and, ultimately, benzene and toluene (Fig. 7.46).2 It is proposed that a cleavage between the hydroxyl group and aromatic ring leads to benzenoid species which undergo further cleavage coupled with oxidation to give various decomposition products. 

For polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), rate constants were highly dependent on the number of chlorine atoms, and calculated atmospheric lifetimes varied from 2 d for 3-chlorobiphenyl to 34 d for 236-25 pentachlorobiphenyl (Anderson and Hites 1996). It was estimated that loss by hydroxy-lation in the atmosphere was a primary process for the removal of PCBs from the environment. It was later shown that the products were chlorinated benzoic acids produced by initial reaction with a hydroxyl radical at the 1-position followed by transannular dioxygenation at the 2- and 5-positions followed by ring fission (Brubaker and Hites 1998). Reactions of hydroxyl radicals with polychlorinated dibenzo[l,4]dioxins and dibenzofurans also play an important role for their removal from the atmosphere (Brubaker and Hites 1997). The gas phase and the particulate phase are in equilibrium, and the results show that gas-phase reactions with hydroxyl radicals are important for the... 

For ionisation of m- and p-substituted benzoic acids (44), the hydroxylic solvent is capable of solvating both the undissociated acid (44) and the carboxylate anion (45) obtained from its ionisation. 

Replacement of the hydroxyl group on the phenyl ring with a carboxyl group forms a molecule of benzoic acid. Addition of a hydroxyl at the 2-position on a benzoic acid molecule forms 2-hydroxybenzoic acid or salicylic acid. The slightly more complex phenylpropanoid skeleton contains a linear three-carbon chain (the propanoic group) added to the benzene ring (the phenyl group). Addition of ammonia to carbon 2 of this three-carbon side chain yields the amino acid phenylalanine (Fig. 3.3). Phenylalanine... 

As can be expected, the high-temperature processing runs the risk of enhancing side and consecutive reactions. Decarboxylation of the main product was found and increases with temperature (see Fig. 7). This is illustrated at the example of the synthesis of 2,4,6-trihydroxy benzoic acid from phloroglucinol, as this molecule is even more sensitive to thermal destruction due to the enhanced electron richness of the aromatic core by presence of a third hydroxyl group (Hessel et al. 2007). 

Hydroxylation of the benzylic methyl group of tolbutamide, the preferred site of oxidative attack by CYP2C9 (22), generates hydroxytolbutamide. Hydroxytolbutamide is rapidly oxidized by other enzymes, presumably aldehyde oxidase and/or alcohol dehydrogenase (ALD), to form the major isolated metabolite, the benzoic acid analog. 

Biological. Benzoic acid may degrade to catechol if it is the central metabolite whereas, if protocatechuic acid (3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid) is the central metabolite, the precursor is 3-hydroxybenzoic acid (Chapman, 1972). Other compounds identified following degradation of benzoic acid to catechol include cis,c/5-muconic acid, (+)-muconolactone, 3-oxoadipate enol lactone, and 3-oxoadipate (quoted, Verschueren, 1983). Pure microbial cultures hydroxylated benzoic acid to 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 2- and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (Smith and Rosazza, 1974). In activated sludge, 65.5% mineralized to carbon dioxide after 5 d (Freitag et al., 1985). 

Oxidations. Hydroxylations, epoxide formation, sulfoxide formation, dealkylation, deamination. For example, benzene is oxidized into phenol, and toluene (methylben-zene) is oxidized into benzoic acid. 

While some phenol is produced by the nucleophilic substitution of chlorine in chlorobenzene by the hydroxyl group (structure 17.17), most is produced by the acidic decomposition of cumene hydroperoxide (structure 17.18) that also gives acetone along with the phenol. Some of the new processes for synthesizing phenol are the dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol, the decarboxylation of benzoic acid, and the hydrogen peroxide hydroxylation of benzene. 

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