Coupling of phenols

W. I. Taylor and A. R. Battersby, eds.. Oxidative Coupling of Phenols, Marcel Dekket, New York, 1967. 

Removal of tert-AW Groups, Alkyl groups on a phenol nucleus can be removed selectively to produce a desired synthetic result. The oxidative coupling of phenol offers a good example. 2,6-Di-/ f2 -butylphenol can be coupled under oxidative conditions to... 

Fig. 2. Theoretical curve of pH versus log rate for diazonium coupling of phenols.

Light can effect the coupling of phenols. For example, Joschek and Miller (22) found that phenoxyphenols could be produced in the flash photolysis of phenol, but although sought, no dioxin was detected in the reaction products. 

To satisfy his curiosity about dyeing processes, he took a summer course at the Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik (BASF) in 1920. There he came into close personal and professional contact with P. Julius, the director of the BASF, who had been very interested in Meyer s work on the coupling of phenol ether. Julius wanted for his successor a scientist acquainted with the particulars of dyestuffs and having a sound knowledge of physical chemistry in addition to organic chemistry, and the position of director of... 

Taylor, W.I. Battersby, A.R. "Coupling of Phenols" Marcel Dekker New York 1967. 

Although permanganate ions are not generally used to effect oxidative coupling of phenols, it has been shown that, in the presence of a catalyst in an organic solvent, 2-methoxyphenols are coupled oxidatively under very mild conditions to produce the dimeric products (>50%) [48], Unsaturated substituents are not oxidized under the mild conditions. 

Poly(phenylene oxide) PPO, or poly(phenylene ether) PPE, is an engineering polymer developed by General Electric. It concerns the oxidative coupling of phenols discovered in 1956 by Allan S. Hay [21], Oxidative coupling leads to the formation of carbon-oxygen bonds between carbon atoms 2,4, and 6 and the phenolic oxygen atom. To avoid coupling with carbon atoms 2 and 6, alkyl substituents at these two positions were introduced. In addition to the polymer a 4,4 dimer is formed, named diphenoquinone (DPQ). The... 

Figure 15.15. Copper cataly sed oxidative coupling of phenols...

The intramolecular coupling of phenol derivatives with olefins is a very useful C,C bond-forming reaction. Ya-mamura has shown that this reaction can lead to three different product types (30a-c) (Scheme 8) [137, 138]. 

Scheme 8 Anodic intramolecular coupling of phenols with olefins.

The earlier literature on oxidative coupling of phenols is reviewed in Ref. [168] and that on anodic coupling in Ref. [169, 170] some examples of the coupling reactions are summarized in Table 11, see also Chapter 6. 

R = H, CH3, C2H5 Scheme 59 Dihydrofurans by anodic coupling of phenols. 

One of the most synthetically useful anodic C-C bond forming reactions developed to date involves the intramolecular coupling of phenol derivatives with olefins. Yamamura has demonstrated that these reactions tend to lead to three classes of products (Scheme 22) [36]. The type of product generated depended strongly on both the nature and stereochemistry of the functional groups attached to the olefin moiety. For example, consider the two cyclization reactions illustrated in Scheme 23 [37]. In this experiment, the stereochemistry of the initial olefin substrate completely dictated the ring skeleton of the product. 

In an effort to explore the factors that govern anodic C-C bond formation, Swenton and coworkers have also been exploring the intramolecular coupling of phenols and olefins (Scheme 28) [44]. In these reactions, initial oxidation of the phenol followed by loss of a proton and a second oxidation led to the formation of a cationic intermediate (26). This intermediate was trapped by the olefin to form a second cation that was in turn trapped by methanol to form the final product 28. When R2 was equal to methyl (25b) or phenyl (25c) the reaction led to a good yield of the cyclized product. Reactions where the R2 was equal to a hydrogen (25a and 25d) were not so successful. The cyclizations were compatible with the incorporation of the olefin into a third ring (25e). 

In recent years, numerous applications of such peroxidase-catalyzed oxidative coupling of phenols and aromatic amines have been reported (Table 7). These peroxidase-catalyzed biotransformations lead to modified natural products with high biological activities [110-118]. Several examples have also been described for the oxidative coupling of phenols with peroxidases and other oxidative enzymes from a variety of fungal and plant sources as whole cell systems... 

Table 7. Peroxidase-catalyzed coupling of phenols and aromatic amines...

The polymerization of phenols or aromatic amines is applied in resin manufacture and the removal of phenols from waste water. Polymers produced by HRP-catalyzed coupling of phenols in non-aqueous media are potential substitutes for phenol-formaldehyde resins [123,124], and the polymerized aromatic amines find applications as conductive polymers [112]. Phenols and their resins are pollutants in aqueous effluents derived from coal conversion, paper-making, production of semiconductor chips, and the manufacture of resins and plastics. Their transformation by peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide constitutes a convenient, mild and environmentally acceptable detoxification process [125-127]. 

Oxidation of phenols and aromatic amines using HRP is generally of little synthetic value, as oligomers and polymers are the main products (5, 260). Under certain conditions oxidative coupling of phenols or naphthols to give biaryls can be achieved, but with low selectivity (262). In contrast, HRP can catalyze a number of useful oxidative N-and 0-deaIkyIation reactions that are relatively difficult to carry out synthetically. This area has been described in detail by Meunier (263). A method for the preparation of optically active hydroperoxides using HRP C has been developed (264). Optically pure (S)-hydroperoxides... 

Oxidative coupling involves condensation reactions catalyzed by phenol oxidases. In oxidative coupling of phenol, for example, arloxy or phenolate radicals are formed by the removal of an electron and a proton from an hydroxyl group. The herbicide 2,4-D is degraded (Fig. 15.5) to 2,4 dichlorophenol, which can be oxidatively coupled by phenol oxidases (Bollag and Liu 1990). 

Nonphenolic oxidative coupling of phenol ether derivatives using IBTA can also produce seven-membered N-containing heterocyclic compounds as exemplified by Eq. (45) [96JCS(CC)1481],... 

The intermolecular coupling of phenols is used extensively in what are believed to be biomimetic alkaloid syntheses. Aqueous solutions of iron(lll) salts are most frequently used as the oxidising agent and the dimerization process must involve phenoxy radicals. Examples are the dimerization of orcinol 21 [114] and the formation of bis-benzyltetrahydroisoquinolines 22 [115],... 

The electrochemical route also achieves intermolecular coupling of phenolic tet-rahydroquinolines. For the relatively unhindered substrate 23, coupling occurs by... 

Scheme 17.41 Nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling of phenol-derived sulfamate esters.

Evidence for Specificity in the Oxidative Coupling of Phenolic Side-Chains in the Cell Wall... 

B-rings of their constituent dihydrochalcone monomers. A concise synthesis of verbenachal-cone (316) by catalytic copper-mediated coupling of phenol and aryl halides has been reported by Xing et al., who also prepared two further derivatives for preliminary structure-activity studies. One of the latter, the corresponding bichalcane (deoxo) derivative of verbenachalcone showed no activity in the neural outgrowth stimulation bioassay mentioned above. 

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