Carboxylic esters homologation

Carboxylic esters can be converted to their homologs (RCOOEt RCH2-COOEt) by treatment with Br2CHLi followed by BuLi at —90°C. The ynolate RC=COLi is an intermediate.If the ynolate is treated with 1,3-cyclohexadiene, followed by NaBH4, the product is the alcohol RCH2CH2OH. ... 

For a homologation of carboxylic esters RCOOEt —> RCH2COOEt, which goes by an entirely different pathway, see Kowalski, CJ. Haque, M.S. Fields, K.W. J. Am. Chem. 

Since ketene is probably the intermediate of the Wolff rearrangement, the choice of solvents dictates the nature of the product. Indeed, water gave carboxylic acids, whereas alcohols or amines led to esters and amides, respectively. These combinations have been applied to the synthesis of more complex molecules. For example, the total synthesis of carbonolide B, a 16-membered macrolide antibiotic, relied on Amdt-Eistert homologation. In this sequence, a protected furanuronic acid was transformed to the corresponding a-diazoketone, which was then converted to its homologous carboxylic ester. The reaction was achieved using catalytic amounts of silver benzoate and excess of triethylamine in methanol (Scheme 3.4).11... 

Homologation is the one-carbon extension reaction of organic compounds such as alcohols and carboxylic esters, and is very important. Cobalt, rhodium, and ruthenium complexes are known to be efficient catalysts. Methanol and methyl ester can be converted to ethanol and ethyl ester, respectively, using Ru/F [28] and Ru/Co [29] catalysts (Eq. 11.9). 

Allyltitanocenes. Alkenyl chlorides, ethers, and carboxylic esters are homologated with CpjTiClj- MejAl to furnish allylic titanocene chlorides which can be used to react with carbonyl compounds. 

Binder, J., and Zbiral, E., A new procedure for homologation of carbonyl compounds to a-hydroxy-carboxylic esters by means of diethyl (trimethylsilylethoxymethyl)phosphonate. Tetrahedron Lett., 27, 5829, 1986. 

Reaction of lithium alkynolates with alcohols is especially useful for organic synthesis as a method of ester homologation . In this case ethyl esters of carboxylic acids 27 are used for the generation of lithium alkynolates in a multistep one-pot procedure (equation 19). Subsequent ethanolysis of lithium alkynolate in the presence of HCl gives homologated esters 28 in good yield. 

Carbonylation and Homologation of Alcohols, Ethers, Alkyl Halides, and Carboxylic Esters... 

Arndt-Eistert synthesis A procedure for converting a carboxylic acid to its next higher homologue, or to a derivative of a homologous acid, e.g. ester or amide. 

One of the most sensitive tests of the dependence of chemical reactivity on the size of the reacting molecules is the comparison of the rates of reaction for compounds which are members of a homologous series with different chain lengths. Studies by Flory and others on the rates of esterification and saponification of esters were the first investigations conducted to clarify the dependence of reactivity on molecular size. The rate constants for these reactions are observed to converge quite rapidly to a constant value which is independent of molecular size, after an initial dependence on molecular size for small molecules. The effect is reminiscent of the discussion on the uniqueness of end groups in connection with Example 1.1. In the esterification of carboxylic acids, for example, the rate constants are different for acetic, propionic, and butyric acids, but constant for carboxyUc acids with 4-18 carbon atoms. This observation on nonpolymeric compounds has been generalized to apply to polymerization reactions as well. The latter are subject to several complications which are not involved in the study of simple model compounds, but when these complications are properly considered, the independence of reactivity on molecular size has been repeatedly verified. 

Ruthenium complexes have been used in the hydrocarbonylation of simple esters to produce the corresponding homologous esters (50). The hydrocarbonylation affects the alkyl moiety rather than the carboxylate group ... 

The paraffin wax is oxidized by air in a liquid phase process at 110-130°C. Catalysts for this radical reaction are cobalt or manganese salts [54]. The quality of the obtained mixture of homologous carboxylic acids is impaired by numerous byproducts such as aldehydes, ketones, lactones, esters, dicarboxylic acids, and other compounds. These are formed despite a partial conversion of the paraffin and necessitate an expensive workup of the reaction product [50,55]. 

The main synthetic application of the Wolff rearrangement is for the one-carbon homologation of carboxylic acids.242 In this procedure, a diazomethyl ketone is synthesized from an acyl chloride. The rearrangement is then carried out in a nucleophilic solvent that traps the ketene to form a carboxylic acid (in water) or an ester (in alcohols). Silver oxide is often used as a catalyst, since it seems to promote the rearrangement over carbene formation.243... 

Reactions of 2,3-dioxo-l,2,3,5,6,7-hexahydropyrido[l,2,3-carboxylic acids and the homologous acetic and propionic acids, prepared by basic hydrolysis of the corresponding ester, with amines, 28% NH4OH, and hydroxylamine derivatives in the presence of l-ethyl-3-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]carbodiimide and hydroxybenztria-zole <1995BML1527>, 1995BML1533>, and in the presence of NEt3 and A, A -bis(2-oxo-3-oxazolidinyl)phosphinic... 

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