Benzoic acid reaction with base

Among the diverse mechanistic studies directed to prevent the use of high temperatures during the process, the esterification of benzoic acid 1 with DMC, at 90°C, in the presence of a variety of amine bases (1 equiv) was investigated (Scheme 20.2). Although different types of bases were studied, (e.g. A -methyl-morpholine (NMM), tributylamine, 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP), ammonium hydroxide) only l,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) yielded methyl benzoate 2 in quantitative yield. With the rest of the amines tested, the ester 2 was not obtained even after prolonged reaction times. 

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). 

Bromoresorcinol has been prepared by the monobromination of resorcinol monobenzoate and subsequent hydrolysis, from 2-bromo-5-aminophenol by the diazo reaction, by treating resorcinol with dichlorourea and potassium bromide, and by the bromination of 2,4-dihydroxy benzoic acid followed by decarboxylation. The above procedure is based particularly upon the observations of Rice. ... 

Reactions that occur with the development of an electron deficiency, such as aromatic electrophilic substitutions, are best correlated by substituent constants based on a more appropriate defining reaction than the ionization of benzoic acids. Brown and Okamoto adopted the rates of solvolysis of substituted phenyldimeth-ylcarbinyl chlorides (r-cumyl chlorides) in 90% aqueous acetone at 25°C to define electrophilic substituent constants symbolized o-. Their procedure was to establish a conventional Hammett plot of log (.k/k°) against (t for 16 /wcra-substituted r-cumyl chlorides, because meta substituents cannot undergo significant direct resonance interaction with the reaction site. The resulting p value of —4.54 was then used in a modified Hammett equation. 

Problem 19.18 t When o-phthalaldc-hyde is treated with base, o-(hydroxymethvl)benzoic acid is formed. Show the mechanism of tilts reaction. 

When a values based on the ionization of benzoic acid are used, deviations may occur with + R para-substituents for reactions involving — R electron-rich reaction centers, and with — R para-substituents for reactions involving + R electron-poor reaction centers. The explanation of these deviations is in terms of cross-conjugation , i.e. conjugation involving substituent and reaction center. 

An example of a reaction series in which large deviations are shown by — R para-substituents is provided by the rate constants for the solvolysis of substituted t-cumyl chlorides, ArCMe2Cl54. This reaction follows an SN1 mechanism, with intermediate formation of the cation ArCMe2 +. A —R para-substituent such as OMe may stabilize the activated complex, which resembles the carbocation-chloride ion pair, through delocalization involving structure 21. Such delocalization will clearly be more pronounced than in the species involved in the ionization of p-methoxybenzoic acid, which has a reaction center of feeble + R type (22). The effective a value for p-OMe in the solvolysis of t-cumyl chloride is thus — 0.78, compared with the value of — 0.27 based on the ionization of benzoic acids. 

Bismuth(III) triflate is also a powerful acylation catalyst that catalyzes reactions with acetic anhydride and other less reactive anhydrides such as benzoic and pivalic anhydrides.113 Good results are achieved with tertiary and hindered secondary alcohols, as well as with alcohols containing acid- and base-sensitive functional groups. 

A rapid MW-assisted palladium-catalyzed coupling of heteroaryl and aryl boronic acids with iodo- and bromo-substituted benzoic acids, anchored on TentaGel has been achieved [174]. An environmentally friendly Suzuki cross-coupling reaction has been developed that uses polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the reaction medium and palladium chloride as a catalyst [175]. A solventless Suzuki coupling has also been reported on palladium-doped alumina in the presence of potassium fluoride as a base [176], This approach has been extended to Sonogashira coupling reaction wherein terminal alkynes couple readily with aryl or alkenyl iodides on palladium-doped alumina in the presence of triphenylphosphine and cuprous iodide (Scheme 6.52) [177]. 

DPA) in dimethylphthalate at about 70°, yields a relatively strong blue Umax =435 nm) chemiluminescence the quantum yield is about 7% that of luminol 64>. The emission spectrum matches that of DPA fluorescence so that the available excitation energy is more than 70 kcal/mole. Energy transfer was observed on other fluorescers, e.g. rubrene and fluorescein. The mechansim of the phthaloyl peroxide/fluorescer chemiluminescence reaction very probably involves radicals. Luminol also chemiluminesces when heated with phthaloyl peroxide but only in the presence of base, which suggests another mechanism. The products of phthaloyl peroxide thermolysis are carbon dioxide, benzoic acid, phthalic anhydride, o-phenyl benzoic acid and some other compounds 65>66>. It is not yet known which of them is the key intermediate which transfers its excitation energy to the fluorescer. 

In the following we shall focus on heterogeneous acid-base reactions. One of the best known case studies is the reaction of crystalline benzoic acid with ammonia to form 1 1 ammonium salts [19, 20]. Crystalline p-chlorobenzoic anhydride reacts with gaseous ammonia to give the corresponding amide and ammonium salt [22] a similar reaction has been investigated in the case of optically active cyclopropanecarboxylic acid crystals [23]. 

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