Carboxylic acids, anhydrides rearrangement

The Fries rearrangement is the acid-catalyzed transformation of aryl esters into hydroxy ary Iketones [1] and often plays an important role in the production of hydro-xyarylketones by acylation of phenols with carboxylic acids, anhydrides, or acyl chlorides. 

In Summary The problems of Friedel-Crafts alkylation (multiple substitution and carboca-tion rearrangements) are avoided in Friedel-Crafts acylations, in which an acyl halide or carboxylic acid anhydride is the reaction partner, in the presence of a Lewis acid. The intermediate acylium cations undergo electrophilic aromatic substitution to yield the corresponding aromatic ketones. 

Rearrangements and other side-reactions are rare. The ester pyrolysis is therefore of some synthetic value, and is used instead of the dehydration of the corresponding alcohol. The experimental procedure is simple, and yields are generally high. Numerous alkenes have been prepared by this route for the first time. For the preparation of higher alkenes (> Cio), the pyrolysis of the corresponding alcohol in the presence of acetic anhydride may be the preferable method." The pyrolysis of lactones 9 leads to unsaturated carboxylic acids 10 ... 

Amides are the least reactive of the carboxylic acid derivatives, and undergo acid or base hydrolysis to produce the parent carboxylic acids, and reduction to appropriate amines (see Section 4.3.10). They can also be dehydrated to nitriles, most commonly with boiling acetic anhydride, (AcO)20, sulphonyl chloride (SOCI2) or phosphoms oxychloride (POCI3) (see Section 4.3.18). Amines (with one less carbon) are prepared from amides by the treatment of halides (Br2 or CI2) in aqueous NaOH or KOH. This reaction is known as Hofmann rearrangement (see Section 4.3.10). 

While metallocenes are usually acetylated with acid halides, acid anhydrides, or carboxylic acids, a number of other acylating agents have been reported. The reaction of ferrocene with various isocyanates and aluminum chlorides leads to N-substituted ferrocenecarboxamides (IX) (89). Use of ruthenocene in place of ferrocene leads to analogous results (88). The preparation of V-phenyl-ferrocenecarboxamide from phenyl isocyanate in this manner has been used as a proof of structure for the product obtained from the Beckmann rearrangement of benzoylferrocene oxime (124). 

Quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid with thionyl chloride gives the acid chloride (79%), which undergoes the expected reactions.166 The gas-phase pyrolysis of quinoxaline-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride (157) over a Nichrome coil gives o-phthalonitrile (158) (72%), probably via 2,3-quinoxalyne (159) which ring-cleaves, and the diisocyanide subsequently rearranges thermally to the dinitrile.167... 

Homophthalic acids are acylated by acid anhydrides in the presence of pyridine, producing 4-acylisochroman-l,3-diones (494) (80CB3927). Rearrangement to a 3-alkylisocoumarin-4-carboxylic acid (495) occurs in acid solution and may be accompanied by decarboxylation. 

The formation of a-diazoketones from carboxylic acids (via the acyl chloride or an anhydride) and the subsequent Wolff Rearrangement in the presence of nucleophiles results in a one-carbon homologation of carboxylic acids. This reaction sequence. 

Fries rearrangement and phenol acetylation The Fries rearrangement is the acid catalysed transformation of aryl esters into hydroxyarylketones. Both this rearrangement and the two-step transformation (esterification, Fries rearrangement) in one-pot operation of phenols with carboxylic acid or anhydrides will be examined hereafter. Most studies in which acid zeolites were used as catalysts (Tables 3.6 and 3.7) deal with the synthesis of o- and p-hydroxyacetophenones (o- and p-HAP) either by the Fries rearrangement of phenyl acetate [Reaction (3.5)] ... 

Fig. 14.44. A one-pot diastereoselective degradation of a carboxylic acid to a Boc-protected amine via a Curtius rearrangement Boc refers to tert-butoxylcarbonyl. The mixed anhydride B is formed by a condensation of the phosphorus ) reagent with the carboxyl group. The anhydride B acylates the concomitantly generated azide ion forming the acyl azide A. A Curtius degradation converts A to C, and the latter reacts subse-guently with tert-butanol to the Boc-protected amine.

Thermal dehydration of o- (acylamino)phenols is the method of choice for the preparation of benzoxazoles (equation 96) and other annulated oxazoles. 0,iV-Diacyl derivatives of o-aminophenols cyclize at lower temperatures than do the monoacyl compounds. The synthesis is often carried out by heating the aminophenol with the carboxylic acid or a derivative, such as the acid chloride, anhydride, an ester, amide or nitrile. The Beckmann rearrangement of oximes of o-hydroxybenzophenones leads directly to benzoxazoles (equation 97). 

Heating N- acetyl-5- (a-ketoalkyl)cysteine (308) for a brief period with acetic anhydride gives dihydro-2-methylthieno[3,4-d]oxazole-3a(4//)-carboxylic acids (310) (79JOC825). While the mechanism has not been investigated in detail, the isolation of several compounds suggests the existence of the intermediate spiro compound (309). Rearrangement to (310) is feasible since the anhydride character of (309) is changed to the ester character of (310). 

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