Butyrolactones, route

Reduction. Heterogeneous catalytic reduction processes provide effective routes for the production of maleic anhydride derivatives such as succinic anhydride [108-30-5] (26), succinates, y-butyrolactone [96-48-0] (27), tetrahydrofuran [109-99-9] (29), and 1,4-butanediol [110-63-4] (28). The technology for production of 1,4-butanediol from maleic anhydride has been reviewed (92,93). 

Pyrrohdinone (2-pyrrohdone, butyrolactam or 2-Pyrol) (27) was first reported in 1889 as a product of the dehydration of 4-aminobutanoic acid (49). The synthesis used for commercial manufacture, ie, condensation of butyrolactone with ammonia at high temperatures, was first described in 1936 (50). Other synthetic routes include carbon monoxide insertion into allylamine (51,52), hydrolytic hydrogenation of succinonitnle (53,54), and hydrogenation of ammoniacal solutions of maleic or succinic acids (55—57). Properties of 2-pyrrohdinone are Hsted in Table 2. 2-Pyrrohdinone is completely miscible with water, lower alcohols, lower ketones, ether, ethyl acetate, chloroform, and benzene. It is soluble to ca 1 wt % in aUphatic hydrocarbons. 

Methyl-2-Pyrrolidinone. N-Meth5l-2-pyrrohdinone [872-50-4] (44) (NMP or methyl-2-pyrrohdone, M-Pyrol) was fkst reported in 1907 as prepared by alkylation of 2-pyrrohdinone with methyl iodide (81). The present commercial route, ie, condensation of butyrolactone with methylamine, was first described in 1936 (50). 

In the early 1990s, processes were developed for the production of 1,4-butanediol and y-butyrolactone by gas-phase catalytic hydrogenation of maleic anhydride (131—134). Succinic anhydride is obtained as a partial hydrogenation by-product in these processes. It can be recycled to complete the hydrogenation to the desired products, or be separated and purified. This process could in the future become a significant commercial route for succinic anhydride. 

The original preparation of y-crotonolactone by Lespieau involved a five-step sequence from epichlorohydrin and sodium cyanide. A recent detailed study of this procedure reported an overall yield of 25% for the lactone. Glattfeld used a shorter route from glycerol chlorohydrin and sodium cyanide hydrolysis and distillation of the intermediate dihydroxy acid yielded y-cro-tonolactone in 23% yield and -hydroxy-y-butyrolactone in 28% yield. The formation of y-crotonolactone in 15% yield has also been reported from pyrolysis of 2,5-diacetoxy-2,5-dihydrofuran at 480-500 . ... 

The most recent entrant-to the. club of commodity chemicals is 1,4-butanediol (BDO), a petrochemical used in some of the more specialized applications such as chemical intermediates for the production of tetrahydro-furane and gama-butyrolactone, polybutylene terephthalate, and the more familiar polyurethanes. Traditionally, the Reppe process was the primary route to BDO, based bn acetylene and formaldehyde feeds. More recently, the share of BDO from butane and propylene oxide based production has grown rapidly. 

Myadera and Iwai (64CPB1338) have devised a convenient route to the bromide (139 R1 = R2 = R3 = H) starting with commercially available materials (Scheme 84). The anion formed from -y-butyrolactone by the action of sodium hydride was allowed to react with ethyl picolinate to yield the keto lactone (141) which, when heated with hydrobromic acid, undergoes decarboxylation as well as bromination, yielding the bromo ketone (139). Several substituted ethyl picolinates have been used successfully, and it has also been found that the anion of the keto lactone (141) may be alkylated. 

A low-cost route to 1,4-butanediol and tetrahydrofuran based on maleic anhydride has been disclosed (Davy process).343,344 Here dimethyl or diethyl maleate is hydrogenated over a copper catalyst. Rapid saturation of the C—C double bond forms diethyl succinate, which subsequently undergoes further slower transformations (ester hydrogenolysis and reduction as well as dehydration) to yield a mixture of y-butyrolactone, 1,4-butanediol, tetrahydrofuran, and ethanol. After separation both ethanol and y-butyrolactone are recycled. 

Asymmetric induction has been reported for a ketene Claisen rearrangement of the adducts of dichloroketene to chiral allyl thioethers as a route to precursors of optically active y-butyrolactones [504], An example of this sigmatropic step is given hereafter. 

Free radical polymerization of cyclic ketene acetals has been used for the synthesis of polyfy-butyrolactone), which cannot be prepared by the usual lactone route due to the stability of the five-membered ring. The polymerization of 2-methylene-l,3-dioxalane at high temperatures (above 120 °C) gave a high molecular mass polyester [59,79]. Only 50% of the rings opened when the polymerization was carried out at 60 °C, and this led to the formation of a random copolymer. The presence of methyl substituents at the 4- or 5-position facilitated the reaction. The free radical initiators generally used in such polymerizations are ferf-butyl hydroperoxide, ferf-butyl peroxide, or cumene hydroperoxide. The various steps involved are described in Scheme 5 [59]. 

These epoxides can be converted to vinyl siloxycyclopropanes m high yield by treatment with base and trimethylsilyl chloride. Transformations of these interesting intermediates (see Section VII) into various products are demonstrated in equation 103. Isolation of oxaspiropentanes is not required in a route to cyclobutanones which are formed by straightforward acid workup (equation 104) . These can either be expanded to y-butyrolactones by oxidation or to an enol ester by a-formylation and acid-induced fragmentation. The latter sequence has been utilized in a synthesis of acorenone... 

Following these examples, methylene cyclopropene and certain 5,6-dihydrocali-cenes are now obtainable. Adding lithio trimethylsilylcyclopropanes to aldehydes also provides alkylidene cyclopropanes (Peterson olehnation route) . An approach to a-methylene y-butyrolactones starting with dibromocyclopropanes has been opened by a suitable manipulation of intermediate cyclopropyl anions (equation 133). ... 

S-Benzyl-y-butyrolactones (44) for which convenient preparative procedures are available, and improved techniques for their a-alkylation and a-hydroxyalkylation, provide the most common synthetic route for these lignan sub-classes (39). The Stobbe condensation (40) of aryl aldehyde with dimethyl succinate (Scheme 9) leads to the half-ester (42) which can be catalytically hydrogenated at atmospheric pressure to give the dihydro half-ester (43). Selective reduction of the potassium salt of the latter can be effectively achieved by calcium borohydride (41)... 

Y-Oxo sulfone acetals can be acylated with esters giving, after reductive desulfonylation, a convenient route to y-keto aldehydes or 1,4-diketones (Scheme 67). The intermolecular acylation of a-sulfonyl carbanions was also used to synthesize 7-butyrolactones. ... 

When the Favorskii rearrangement is carried out on a substrate which contains an internal nucleophile, this can attack the cyclopropanone intermediate to yield cyclic products. The reaction shown in Scheme 13 provides a route to polysubstituted "y-butyrolactones by this kind of mechanism. 

Reaction of ketyls. The carbonyl group reacts with Smlj to generate ketyl species which may be reduced further. Capture of the ketyls with suitable reactants expands the utility of the samarium chemistry. Important reactions include butyrolactone synthesis that is amenable to asymmetric induction when chiral acrylic esters are employed. The reagent system (catalytic in Smij) generated in situ from Smij and Zn-Hg is more economical. The system also contains Lil and MCjSiOTf, and in practice MejSiOTf is added to the mixture of the other components at just the rate to maintain a light blue color (indicating the presence of Smij). When Nilj is added as a catalyst, p-propiolactone instead of acrylic esters can be used. Sometimes steric factors preclude cyclization, and 7-hydroxy esters result. Ketyl addition to acrylamides opens a route to 1,4-amino alcohols. ... 

The formation of 4-hydroxycycloheptanones (in the form of bicyclic lactols) is a two-step process, the second step involving intramolecular reaction of Y-(3-halopropyl)-y-butyrolactones which is photoassisted. An alternative route to the same products is initiated by C-alkylation of the ketyls derived from y-ketoesters. Properly constituted ketonitriles are converted to a-ketols via a C-C bond formation process. 

Vinylphosphonium salts, formed as intermediates during the reactions of acetylenedicarboxylate derivatives and triphenylphosphine continue to provide useful routes to new heterocyclic species.For example, treatment of y-butyrolactones with triphenylphosphine and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate yields fused dihydrofurans (Scheme 20). Cyanomethylenetriphenylphos-... 

Depending on the catalytic species, palladium-catalyzed mono- and dicarbonyl-ation of alkynes may be achieved. Monocarbonylation of acetylenic alcohols in the presence of thiourea is an elegant route to a-methylene-7-butyrolactone 202, the structure of which is widely distributed in certain natural products98,99). The synthesis of a vernolepine derivative (203) has been attempted by this method 100l Pro-... 

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