Carbon formic acid synthesis

The turnover frequency (TOF = mole of product per mole of catalyst per hour) of this rapid reaction is rather high, with values up to 1400. This reaction, carried out at 50 °C in SC-CO2, is 18 times faster than in conventional tetrahydrofuran under otherwise identical reaction conditions. This formic acid synthesis can be coupled with subsequent reactions by addition of methanol or dimethylamine, this supercritical reaction system provides a highly efficient one-pot route to methyl formate and A,A-dimethylforma-mide, respectively [918]. Another example of a reaction in which carbon dioxide acts as both reactant and reaction medium is the formation of tetraethyl-2-pyranone from hex-3-yne and CO2 in the presence of an Ni(II)-diphosphane catalyst at 102 °C under supercritical reaction conditions [919]. 

Hydroxylysine (328) was synthesized by chemoselective reaction of (Z)-4-acet-oxy-2-butenyl methyl carbonate (325) with two different nucleophiles first with At,(9-Boc-protected hydroxylamine (326) under neutral conditions and then with methyl (diphenylmethyleneamino)acetate (327) in the presence of BSA[202]. The primary allylic amine 331 is prepared by the highly selective monoallylation of 4,4 -dimethoxybenzhydrylamine (329). Deprotection of the allylated secondary amine 330 with 80% formic acid affords the primary ally-lamine 331. The reaction was applied to the total synthesis of gabaculine 332(203]. 

Substitution of more complex acids for formic acid in the last step of the purine synthesis will afford intermediates substituted on the imidazole carbon atom. Thus, condensation of diaminouracyl, 12, with phenylacetic acid gives the benzylated... 

Carbon monoxide, CO, is produced when carbon or organic compounds burn in a limited supply of air, as happens in cigarettes and badly tuned automobile engines. It is produced commercially as synthesis gas by the re-forming reaction (Section 14.3). Carbon monoxide is the formal anhydride of formic acid, HCOOH, and the gas can be produced in the laboratory by the dehydration of formic acid with hot, concentrated sulfuric acid ... 

The range of reactions which have been examined is wide (248) and includes hydrogenations (256), ammonia synthesis (257), polymerizations (257), and oxidations (258). Little activity has occurred in this area during the past few years. Recent reports of the effects of sonication on heterogeneous catalysis include the liquefaction of coal by hydrogenation with Cu/Zn (259), the hydrogenation of olefins by formic acid with Pd on carbon (260), and the hydrosilation of 1-alkenes by Pt on carbon (261). 

The synthesis of cellulose by A. xylinum from various polyalcohols14 is accompanied by the formation of carbon dioxide, formic acid, nonvolatile acids, ketoses and sometimes ethanol. The much greater variety of substrates suitable for cellulose synthesis, as compared with the small number for dextran or levan, may account for the widespread natural occurrence of cellulose. 

In a related approach from the same laboratory, the perfluorooctylsulfonyl tag was employed in a traceless strategy for the deoxygenation of phenols (Scheme 7.82) [94], These reactions were carried out in a toluene/acetone/water (4 4 1) solvent mixture, utilizing 5 equivalents of formic acid and potassium carbonate/[l,T-bis(diphe-nylphosphino)ferrocene]dichloropalladium(II) [Pd(dppf)Cl2] as the catalytic system. After 20 min of irradiation, the reaction mixture was subjected to fluorous solid-phase extraction (F-S PE) to afford the desired products in high yields. This new traceless fluorous tag has also been employed in the synthesis of pyrimidines and hydantoins. 

However, since the goal of this work was the synthesis of alcohols from olefins via hydrohydroxymethylation (75, 76), little attention was given to developing a shift-catalyst per se. Pettit has recently reexamined some of this work and shown that, by careful control of the pH of the reaction mixture, systems based on either Fe(CO)5 or Cr(CO)6 can be developed for the production of either formic acid or methanol from carbon monoxide and water (77, 78). Each of these latter systems involves the formation of metal hydride complexes consequently, molecular hydrogen is also produced according to the shift reaction [Eq. (16)]. 

Trying to prepare precursors for the synthesis of 3-substituted [l,2,4]triazolo[5,l- ]benzothiazoles, 2-hydrazino-4-methylbenzothiazole 393 was submitted to reaction with formic acid, urea, carbon disulfide, and acetic anhydride to give compounds 230, 238, 89, and 394 (Scheme 45) <1998IJC(B)921>. 

The synthesis of this ring system by condensation of 3,4,5-triamino-l,2,6-thiadiazine-l,1-dioxide with formic acid equivalents to give the fused imidazole ring dates back to the review by Montgomery and Secrist <1984GHEC(5)607>. This methodology was extended to cyclocondensation reactions of 3,4,5-triamino-l,2,6-thiadia-zine-1,1-dioxide with electrophiles such as methyl chloroformate and carbon disulfide to yield 6-oxo 98 and 6-thioxo 99 derivatives of 4-aminoimidazo[4,5-d-l,2,6-thiadiazine-2,2-dioxide respectively (Scheme 72) <1999BMC1617>. 

The previous extension of solvent mixtures involved solvent interfaces. This organic-water interfacial technique has been successfully extended to the synthesis of phenylacetic and phenylenediacetic acids based on the use of surface-active palla-dium-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)diphenylphosphine complex in conjunction with dode-cyl sodium sulfate to effect the carbonylation of benzyl chloride and dichloro-p-xylene in a toluene-aqueous sodium hydroxide mixture. The product yields at 60°C and 1 atm are essentially quantitative based on the substrate conversions, although carbon monoxide also undergoes a slow hydrolysis reaction along with the carbonylation reactions. The side reaction produces formic acid and is catalyzed by aqueous base but not by palladium. The phosphine ligand is stable to the carbonylation reactions and the palladium can be recovered quantitatively as a compact emulsion between the organic and aqueous phases after the reaction, but the catalytic activity of the recovered palladium is about a third of its initial activity due to product inhibition (Zhong et al., 1996). 

The reaction is also called hydrocarboxylation. According to a later modification, the alkene first reacts with carbon monoxide in the presence of the acid to form an acyl cation, which then is hydrolyzed with water to give the carboxylic acid.97 The advantage of this two-step synthesis is that it requires only medium pressure (100 atm). Aqueous HF (85-95%) gave good results in the carboxylation of alkenes and cycloalkenes.98 Phosphoric acid is also effective in the carboxylation of terminal alkenes and isobutylene, but it causes substantial oligomerization as well.99 100 Neocarboxylic acids are manufactured industrially with this process (see Section 7.2.4). The addition may also be performed with formic acid as the source of CO (Koch-Haaf reaction).101 102 The mechanism involves carbocation formation via protonation of the alkene97 103 [Eq. (7.10)]. It then reacts with carbon monoxide... 

Now let us consider the synthesis of the monomeric units from which biopolymers are made. How can simple one-carbon compounds such as C02 and formic acid be incorporated into complex carbon compounds How can carbon chains grow in length or be shortened How are branched chains and rings formed ... 

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