1.4- Benzoquinones hydrogenation

METHYL KETONES AUyltrimethyl-silane, Bis(acetonitrilo)chloronitro-palladium (11). Dicarb ony lbis( triphenyl-phosphine)nickel. Dichloro-dicyano-benzoquinone. Hydrogen peroxide-Palladium acetate. Meldrum s acid. Palladium r-butyl peroxide trilluoro-acctate. Palladium tl) chloride. 

Thus, the aldol shown, which is susceptible to Sharpless-type epoxidation, has been obtained from phytal and the protected hydroquinone (ref. 120). Formation of the epoxide presumably with a chiral peracid (or perhaps with a conventional peracid relying on the asymmetry of the substrate) and then cleavage reductively in t-butyl methyl ketone containing lithium aluminium hydride led to a diol. The benzylic hydroxyl group of this was hydrogenolysed to afford the hydroquinone dimethyl ether in 85% yield. Ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) oxidation afforded the intermediate benzoquinone hydrogenation of which was reported to result in 2R,4 R,8 R-a-tocopherol by, presumably, avoidance of a racemisation step. 

The most common stereoselective syntheses involve the formation and cleavage of cyclopentane and cyclohexane derivatives or their unsaturated analogues. The target molecule (aff-cts)-2-methyl-l,4-cyclohexanediol has all of its substituents on the same side of the ring. Such a compound can be obtained by catalytic hydrogenation of a planar cyclic precursor. Methyl-l,4-benzoquinone is an ideal choice (p-toluquinone M. Nakazaki, 1966). 

Aniline Oxidation. Even though this is quite an old process, it still has limited use to produce hydroquinone on a commercial scale. In the first step, aniline is oxidized by manganese dioxide in aqueous sulfuric acid. The resulting benzoquinone, isolated by vapor stripping, is reduced in a second step by either an aqueous acidic suspension of iron metal or by catalytic hydrogenation. 

Until now examples for catalytic reactions involving ferrates with iron in the oxidation state of -l-3 are very rare. One example is the hexacyanoferrate 8-catalyzed oxidation of trimethoxybenzenes 7 to dimethoxy-p-benzoquinones 9/10 by means of hydrogen peroxide which was published by Matsumoto and Kobayashi in 1985 [2]. Using hexacyanoferrate 8 product 9 was favored while other catalysts like Fe(acac)3 or Fe2(S04)3 favored product 10 (Scheme 2). The oxidation is supposed to proceed via the corresponding phenols which are formed by the attack of OH radicals generated in the Fe/H202 system. 

I, 4-benzoquinone.4 Other methods that have been employed include the oxidation of naphthalene with hydrogen peroxide,5 the oxidation of 1,4-naphthalenediamine 6 and naphthylamine sulfonic acid 7 and the oxidation of 4-amino-1-naphthol prepared by electrolytic reduction of 1-nitronaphthalene.8... 

In total syntheses where a homogeneously catalyzed transfer hydrogenation is applied, almost exclusively aluminum(III) isopropoxide is utilized as the catalyst. At an early stage in the total synthesis of (-)-reserpine (65) by Woodward [106], an intermediate with two ketone groups and two C-C double bonds is formed (66) by a Diels-Alder reaction of para-benzoquinone (67) and vinylacry-late (68). The two ketone groups were reduced with aluminum(III) isopropoxide... 

The benzylic hydrogen atom of alkylarenes is replaced by the azido group on treatment with trimethylsilyl azide in the presence of 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-l,4-benzoquinone subsequent hydrogenation yields amines (e.g. equation 5)31. 

Anilines are converted into nitrosoarenes ArNO by the action of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of [Mo(0)(02)2(H20) (HMPA)]224, whereas catalysis of the reaction by titanium silicate and zeolites results in the formation of azoxybenzenes ArN (0)=NAr225. Azo compounds ArN=NAr are formed in 42-99% yields by the phase-transfer assisted potassium permanganate oxidation of primary aromatic amines in aqueous benzene containing a little tetrabutylammonium bromide226. The reaction of arylamines with chromyl chloride gives solid adducts which, on hydrolysis, yield mixtures of azo compounds, p-benzoquinone and p-benzoquinone anils 234227. 

Direct phase-transfer catalysed epoxidation of electron-deficient alkenes, such as chalcones, cycloalk-2-enones and benzoquinones with hydrogen peroxide or r-butyl peroxide under basic conditions (Section 10.7) has been extended by the use of quininium and quinidinium catalysts to produce optically active oxiranes [1 — 16] the alkaloid bases are less efficient than their salts as catalysts [e.g. 8]. In addition to N-benzylquininium chloride, the binaphthyl ephedrinium salt (16 in Scheme 12.5) and the bis-cinchonidinium system (Scheme 12.12) have been used [12, 17]. Generally, the more rigid quininium systems are more effective than the ephedrinium salts. 

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