Crown ethers synthesis methods

Chelation itself is sometimes useful in directing the course of synthesis. This is called the template effect (37). The presence of a suitable metal ion facihtates the preparation of the crown ethers, porphyrins, and similar heteroatom macrocycHc compounds. Coordination of the heteroatoms about the metal orients the end groups of the reactants for ring closure. The product is the chelate from which the metal may be removed by a suitable method. In other catalytic effects, reactive centers may be brought into close proximity, charge or bond strain effects may be created, or electron transfers may be made possible. 

Numerous other methods exist for making the simple crowns. Many of these methods are compared in Sect. 3.1 which deals with variations in the synthesis of 18-crown-6. Further commentary on the influence of templating ions on the synthesis of crown ethers may be found in Chap. 2, which deals with various aspects of the template effect. 

The principal variations on the normal crown synthesis methods were applied in preparing mixed crowns such as those shown in Eq. (3.55) and in forming isomers of the dibinaphthyl-22-crown-6 systems. The latter has been discussed in Sect. 3.5 (see Eq. 3.21) . The binaphthyl unit was prepared to receive a non-naphthyl unit as shown in Eq. (3.57). Binaphthol was allowed to react with the tetrahydropyranyl ether or 2-chloroethoxyethanol. Cleavage of the THP protecting group followed by tosyla-tion of the free hydroxyl afforded a two-armed binaphthyl unit which could serve as an electrophile in the cyclization with catechol. Obviously, the reaction could be accomplished in the opposite direction, beginning with catechol". ... 

Okahara and his coworkers have made a number of contributions to the synthesis of crown ethers using a one-pot method (see Sect. 3.13). These methods have been applied largely to the preparation of simple aliphatic crown ether systems. In addition, this group has prepared macrocyclic ester compounds using a one-pot procedure. Although... 

As we considered above, one of the fundamental problems associated with the preparation of macrocyclic ligands is concerned with the orientation of reactive sites such that they give intramolecular (cyclic) rather than intermolecular (acyclic) products. This is associated with the conformation of the reactants and the reactive sites, and so we might expect that judicious location of donor atoms might allow for metal ion control over such a cyclisation process. This is known as a template synthesis, and the metal ion may be viewed as a template about which the macrocyclic product is formed. This methodology was first developed in the 1960s, and has been very widely investigated since that time. At the present, template reactions usually prove to be the method of choice for the synthesis of many macrocyclic complexes (with the possible exceptions of those of crown ethers and tetraazaalkanes). When the reactions are successful, they provide an extremely convenient method of synthesis. 

Benzenedithiols are traditionally prepared by reductive dealkylation of 1,2-C6R4(SR )2, which in turn are obtained by treatment of dibromobenzenes with alkali metal or cuprous thiolates. The methodology continues to be used, for example, for crown ether-appended derivatives (15). A newer and more powerful synthesis of 1,2-benzenedithiol and its derivatives has been developed (16). This method (17) involves reaction of the benzenethiol with 2 equiv of BuLi to give 2-LiC6H4(SLi), which reacts with elemental sulfur to give the dithiolate (Eq. 1). 

The saturated aza-oxa crown ethers were first synthesised as intermediates in the synthesis of the nitrogen cryptands.1 The reaction conditions used for the formation of these macrocycles involved the high-dilution technique. In this versatile method, a diamine and a diacid chloride are simultaneously added in the presence of triethylamine to a large volume of solvent, usually toluene, over an extended period of time. The major product from such a reaction is the [1+1] cyclised product, although the [2+2] adduct can often be isolated as well, in low yield. Whilst this method is still sometimes used,2,3 particularly for cryptand synthesis (Chapter 5), it has been superseded by methods that are more convenient and which proceed under medium dilution. 

The synthesis of aza-oxa crown ethers is best accomplished by making carbon-nitrogen bonds in the cyclisation step. Although the original syntheses operated under conditions of high dilution and involved the co-condensation of a diamine with a diacid chloride, these methods have been supplanted by the more versatile and convenient A-alkylation pathways involving toluene-sulfonamide or TV-benzyl intermediates. This chapter has focused on the metal-free synthesis of saturated aza-oxa crown ethers. There are a large number of examples of the synthesis of aromatic and heterocyclic aza-oxa crown ethers that involve the co-condensation of aldehydes and amines mediated by metal ions such as Pb2+ and Ba2+24,25 This in situ synthetic... 

The preparation of crown ethers differs principally owing to the presence or absence of nitrogen. The preparation of all-oxygen heteromacrocycles has largely involved the Williamson ether synthesis. The preparation of aza-, diaza-, or triazacrowns has usually required the formation of cyclic amides, followed by reduction. The latter method applies to cryptands as well and has been used for that purpose since 1969. The methods are well known and shown in the lower panel of Figure 4. 

Gomberg-Bachmann biphenyl synthesis. Reaction of stable arenediazonium tet-rafluoroborates or hexafluorophosphates in an aromatic solvent with potassium acetate (2 equiv.) and a phase-transfer catalyst results in biar Is in high yield. Crown ethers, Aliquat 336, and tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate arc all effective catalysts. The reaction is useful for synthesis of unsymmetrical biaryls. The ortho-isomer predominates in reactions with a monosubstituted benzene. The most selective method is to couple a substituted arenediazonium salt with a symmetrical arene. 

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