Phase transfer cryptands

A method for the polymerization of polysulfones in nondipolar aprotic solvents has been developed and reported (9,10). The method reUes on phase-transfer catalysis. Polysulfone is made in chlorobenzene as solvent with (2.2.2)cryptand as catalyst (9). Less reactive crown ethers require dichlorobenzene as solvent (10). High molecular weight polyphenylsulfone can also be made by this route in dichlorobenzene however, only low molecular weight PES is achievable by this method. Cross-linked polystyrene-bound (2.2.2)cryptand is found to be effective in these polymerizations which allow simple recovery and reuse of the catalyst. 

In specific applications to phase transfer catalysis, Knbchel and his coworkers compared crown ethers, aminopolyethers, cryptands, octopus molecules ( krakenmole-kiile , see below) and open-chained polyether compounds. They determined yields per unit time for reactions such as that between potassium acetate and benzyl chloride in acetonitrile solution. As expected, the open-chained polyethers were inferior to their cyclic counterparts, although a surprising finding was that certain aminopolyethers were superior to the corresponding crowns. 

Although the cryptands are powerful cation complexing agents, there has been a need felt for increasing the lipophilicity of these materials. In particular, Montanari and his coworkers have utilized the lipophilic cryptands in phase transfer catalytic proces-sesi5,40 Lehn and his group. In all of this work, the principal structural varia-... 

Phase transfer catalysis. As well as their use in homogeneous reactions of the type just described, polyethers (crowns and cryptands) may be used to catalyse reactions between reagents contained in two different phases (either liquid/liquid or solid/liquid). For these, the polyether is present in only catalytic amounts and the process is termed phase transfer catalysis . The efficiency of such a process depends upon a number of factors. Two important ones are the stability constant of the polyether complex being transported and the lipophilicity of the polyether catalyst used. 

A typical phase transfer catalytic reaction of the liquid/liquid type is the cyanation of an alkyl halide in an organic phase using sodium or potassium cyanide in an aqueous phase. When these phases are stirred and heated together very little reaction occurs. However, addition of a small amount of crown ether (or cryptand) results in the reaction occurring to yield the required nitrile. The crown serves to transport the cyanide ion, as its ion pair with the complexed potassium cation, into the organic phase allowing the reaction to proceed. 

For those applications involving the activation of an inorganic anion (that is, generation of a naked anion), the cryptands, rather than the crowns, tend to be the reagents of choice. Such reagents are thus also ideal for applications involving phase-transfer catalysis of the type discussed previously. 

A number of other cryptand-bound polymers have been synthesized using similar procedures to those discussed previously for immobilization of crown molecules. Apart from their use in phase transfer catalysis, such polymers have been studied extensively as chromatography reagents for the separation of a range of metal-ion types (Blasius Janzen, 1982) in a number of instances quite useful separations have been achieved. 

It is worth mentioning at this point that according to Normant et al. (1975) simple polyamines such as tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) are even more active than [2.2.2]-cryptand in the benzylation of acetates in acetonitrile under liquid-solid conditions. These authors suggested that the activity was due to salt solubilization by cation complexation and not to formation of a quaternary ammonium ion since the latter showed no activity. This statement, however, is not in line with the results of Cote and Bauer (1977), who were unable to detect any interaction between K+ and TMEDA in acetonitrile. Furthermore, Vander Zwan and Hartner (1978) found Aliquat 336 (tricaprylylmethylammonium chloride) to be almost as effective as TMEDA in this reaction (Table 30). It might well be, however, that in amine-catalysed benzylation reactions the quaternary salt formed in situ acts both as a reactant and as a phase-transfer catalyst, since Dou et al. (1977) have shown that the benzyltriethylammonium ion is a powerful benzylation agent. 

With a view to producing catalysts that can easily be removed from reaction products, typical phase-transfer catalysts such as onium salts, crown ethers, and cryptands have been immobilized on polymer supports. The use of such catalysts in liquid-liquid and liquid-solid two-phase systems has been described as triphase catalysis (Regen, 1975, 1977). Cinquini et al. (1976) have compared the activities of catalysts consisting of ligands bound to chloromethylated polystyrene cross-linked with 2 or 4% divinylbenzene and having different densities of catalytic sites ([126], [127], [ 132]—[ 135]) in the... 

Figure 5.16 Examples of phase transfer catalysts attached to polystyrene, containing (a) a tetraalkylammonium group, (b) a crown ether group and (c) a cryptand group...

It was a result of demand from industry in the mid-1960s for an alternative to be found for the expensive traditional synthetic procedures that led to the evolution of phase-transfer catalysis in which hydrophilic anions could be transferred into an organic medium. Several phase-transfer catalysts are available quaternary ammonium, phosphonium and arsonium salts, crown ethers, cryptands and polyethylene glycols. Of these, the quaternary ammonium salts are the most versatile and, compared with the crown ethers, which have many applications, they have the advantage of being relatively cheap, stable and non-toxic [1, 2]. Additionally, comparisons of the efficiencies of the various catalysts have shown that the ammonium salts are superior to the crown ethers and polyethylene glycols and comparable with the cryptands [e.g. 3, 4], which have fewer proven applications and require higher... 

The first examples of the application of phase-transfer catalysis (PTC) were described by Jarrousse in 1951 (1), but it was not until 1965 that Makosza developed many fundamental aspects of this technology (2,3). Starks characterized the mechanism and coined a name for it (4,5), whilst Brandstrom studied the use of stoichiometric amounts of quaternary ammonium salts in aprotic solvents, "ion-pair extraction" (6). In the meantime Pedersen and Lehn discovered crown-ethers (7-9) and cryptands (10,11), respectively. 

Quaternary onium salts were the first phase-transfer catalysts used subsequently, a number of compounds (linear polyethers, polypodands, crown-ethers, cryptands, cage-compounds, etc.) were found effective for the anion activation in two-phase systems. These structurally different systems must satisfy at least two fundamental conditions in order to behave as phase-transfer catalysts i) solubility in the organic phase ii) steric hindrance around the cationic center leading to a good cation-anion separation within the ion-pair. 

Immobilization of phase-transfer catalysts on polymeric matrices avoids the problem of separating and recycling the catalysts. In this case the chemical stability of the immobilized catalyst becomes very important quaternary salts often decompose under drastic reaction conditions whereas polydentate ligands are always stable. However, the difficult synthesis of cryptands, despite their high catalytic efficiency, can hardly justify their use. Synthesis of crown-ethers is much easier, but catalytic efficiences are often too low. 

The preparation of novel phase transfer catalysts and their application in solving synthetic problems are well documented(l). Compounds such as quaternary ammonium and phosphonium salts, phosphoramides, crown ethers, cryptands, and open-chain polyethers promote a variety of anionic reactions. These include alkylations(2), carbene reactions (3), ylide reactions(4), epoxidations(S), polymerizations(6), reductions(7), oxidations(8), eliminations(9), and displacement reactions(10) to name only a few. The unique activity of a particular catalyst rests in its ability to transport the ion across a phase boundary. This boundary is normally one which separates two immiscible liquids in a biphasic liquid-liquid reaction system. 

Polymer-supported crown ethers and cryptands were found to catalyze liquid-liquid phase transfer reactions in 1976 55). Several reports have been published on the synthesis and catalytic activity of polymer-supported multidentate macrocycles. However, few studies on mechanisms of catalysis by polymer-supported macrocycles have been carried out, and all of the experimental parameters that affect catalytic activity under triphase conditions are not known at this time. Polymer-supported macrocycle... 

Complexation constants of crown ethers and cryptands for alkali metal salts depend on the cavity sizes of the macrocycles 152,153). ln phase transfer nucleophilic reactions catalyzed by polymer-supported crown ethers and cryptands, rates may vary with the alkali cation. When a catalyst 41 with an 18-membered ring was used for Br-I exchange reactions, rates decreased with a change in salt from KI to Nal, whereas catalyst 40 bearing a 15-membered ring gave the opposite effect (Table 10)l49). A similar rate difference was observed for cyanide displacement reactions with polymer-supported cryptands in which the size of the cavity was varied 141). Polymer-supported phosphonium salt 4, as expected, gave no cation dependence of rates (Table 10). 

Solid-liquid phase-transfer catalyst.1 The reagent represents a new class of catalysts, acyclic cryptands or tridents. It is singled out of a group as the best compromise of efficiency/price/toxicity. It solubilizes salts of alkali metals as well as of transition metals such as RuC13 and PdCl2, probably because of the flexibility of the molecule. In addition the trident is sensitive to the nature of the anion, but anionic activation is less than that obtained with cryptands. 

Cryptands of type 7-9 and derivatives thereof carry alkali cations [6.4], even under conditions where natural or synthetic macrocycles are inefficient. The selec-tivities observed depend on the structure of the ligand, the nature of the cation and the type of cotransported counteranion. Designed structural changes allow the transformation of a cation receptor into a cation carrier [6.1, 6.4]. The results obtained with cryptands indicated that there was an optimal complex stability and phase-transfer equilibrium for highest transport rates. Combined with data for various other carriers and cations, they give a bell-shaped dependence of transport rates on extraction equilibrium (Fig. 11), with low rates for too small or too large... 

The versatile solubility properties of the crown ethers and cryptands are important in two of their major applications, phase transfer catalysis and anion activation. Phase transfer catalysis involves the transport of guest species from one phase to another. The two phases in question are usually two immiscible liquids (liquid-liquid phase transport). In practice, this usually means the use of a... 

The use of crown ethers and cryptands in phase transfer catalysis and anion activation are illustrated in the following case studies. 

Hosts such as crown ethers and cryptands are useful as phase transfer agents and mimics of biological membrane transporting ionophores. 

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