Decarboxylative sulfonation

Aliphatic carboxylic acids may be sulfonated directly to sulfocar-boxylic acids in which the sulfonic acid group is on the a-carbon atom. Better results are sometimes obtained by sulfonation of the corresponding alkylmalonic acid followed by decarboxylation. Sulfonation of propionic anhydride with pyrosulfuric acid gives a-sulfopropionic acid (75%). Several simple olefinic acids containing a sulfonic acid group in the a-position have been made by direct sulfonation of a.,/3-olefinic acids or /3-halo acids. In the latter case, dehydrohalogenation accompanies sulfonation. 

Decarboxylative Sulfonation. When a solution of an 0-acyl thiohydroxamate in CH2CI2 containing excess SO2 is photolyzed at —10 °C, the initially formed radicals are intercepted by the latter before decarboxylative rearrangement can take place. The resulting radicals (RS02 ) then react with a second molecule of the O-acyl thiohydroxamate to give an 5-pyridyl alkylthiosulfonate (38-91%) and the radical R (eq 9). The products are useful as precursors to unsymmetrical sulfones and sulfonamides, significantly by a nonoxidative procedure. 

Reaction with cold nitric acid results primarily ia the formation of 5-nitrosahcyhc acid [96-97-9]. However, reaction with fuming nitric acid results ia decarboxylation as well as the formation of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol [88-89-1] (picric acid). Sulfonation with chlorosulfonic acid at 160°C yields 5-sulfosahcyhc acid [56507-30-3]. At higher temperatures (180°C) and with an excess of chlorosulfonic acid, 3,5-disulfosahcyhc acid forms. Sulfonation with hquid sulfur trioxide ia tetrachloroethylene leads to a nearly quantitative yield of 5-sulfosahcylc acid (1). 

In acid solution, the double bond of (203) is hydrogenated to the trans-fused sulfone (204). Presumably, this hydrogenation goes through a cis-fused intermediate that is rapidly epimerized to (204) under the acidic conditions of the reaction. Condensation of the sodium salt of 7,7-ethylenedioxy-3-oxooctanoate (205) with (204) produces (206). Cmde (206) is cyclized, hydroly2ed, and decarboxylated, producing the tricycHc compound (207). Hydrogenation of (207) followed by ketal hydrolysis and cyclization affords (208) in an overall yield of 35% from hydrindandione (203). 

Other methods for the preparation of cyclohexanecarboxaldehyde include the catalytic hydrogenation of 3-cyclohexene-1-carboxaldehyde, available from the Diels-Alder reaction of butadiene and acrolein, the reduction of cyclohexanecarbonyl chloride by lithium tri-tcrt-butoxy-aluminum hydride,the reduction of iV,A -dimethylcyclohexane-carboxamide with lithium diethoxyaluminum hydride, and the oxidation of the methane-sulfonate of cyclohexylmethanol with dimethyl sulfoxide. The hydrolysis, with simultaneous decarboxylation and rearrangement, of glycidic esters derived from cyclohexanone gives cyclohexanecarboxaldehyde. 

Finally, certain 3-substituted compounds can be prepared by utilizing the - meta) directing powet (cf. Section IV,B) of some groups in the 2-position which afterward can be removed. 3-Nitrothiophene is prepared by nitration of 2-thiophenesulfonyl chloride and by removal of the sulfonic acid group of the 4-nitro-2-sulfonyl chloride formed with superheated steam. Another approach to 3-nitrothio-phene is to nitrate 2-cyanothiophene, separate the 4-nitro-2-cyano-thiophene from the 5-isomer, hydrolyze, and decarboxylate. A final method of preparation of 3-nitrothiophene is by simultaneous de-bromination and decarboxylation of 5-bromo-4-nitro-2-thiophene-carboxylic acid obtained through the nitration of methyl 5-bromo-2-thiophenecarboxylate. 

These reactions accomplish the same overall synthetic transformation as the acylation of ester enolates, but use desulfurization rather than decarboxylation to remove the anion-stabilizing group. Dimethyl sulfone can be subjected to similar reaction sequences.232... 

Feuer and co-workers also nitrated ring-substituted toluenes to the corresponding arylnitromethanes with potassium amide in liquid ammonia. Sulfonate esters and NJ -dialkylamides undergo similar nitration the latter isolated as their a-bromo derivatives. Alkaline nitration of ethyl and ferf-butyl carboxylic esters with potassium amide in liquid ammonia yields both the a-nitroester and the corresponding nitroalkane from decarboxylation. ... 

Incorporating an electron-donor alkyl group into position 2 of 2 was shown by foe present authors to facilitate S-oxidation thus, 2-efoyl-thieno[3,2-6]thiophene-l,1-dioxide (214) was prepared at40°-45° from 2-ethylthieno[3,2-6]thiophene, hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid. The thieno[3,2-6]thiophene system undergoes oxidation even if foe second a-position is carboxy-substituted oxidation of 5-efoylthieno[3,2-6]-thiophene-2-carboxylic acid furnished foe 4,4-dioxide (215) subsequently decarboxylated to sulfone (214) [Eq. (70)]. The [2,3-6] isomers, 20 and 55, with foe sulfur atoms bound to foe same carbon atom, do not form sulfones under similar conditions. 

S-oxidation of 3-methylthieno[3,2-6]thiophene-2-carboxylic acid yields 63% of the 4,4-dioxide (216), converted into 3-mefoylthieno[3,2-6] thiophene-4,4-dioxide (217) by decarboxylation [Eq. (71)]. The structures of the sulfones 214-217 were confirmed by IR, UV, and NMR. ... 

Substituted cyclopropyl rings conjugated with a triple bond system have recently received attention as C5 building blocks. The procedure described here is a modification of the decarboxylation-elimination reaction for the preparation of a.3 acetylenic acids from enol sulfonates of acyl malonates. Addition of aqueous alkali to the enol sulfonate of diethyl cyclopropyl carbonyl malonate gives cycl opropyl propiol ic acid, but the yield is 1 ow. 

The major advantages of this procedure over the enol sulfonate procedure lie in the availability of diethyl 2-chloro-2-cyclopropylethene-l,l-dicarboxylate from the corresponding acylmalonate and phosphorus oxychloride, and the fast, homogeneous, decarboxyl ative elimination reaction of the triethylamine salt of the half-ester in dry organic solvents. The conditions described here, with slight modifications (overnight treatment), have been used for a variety of g-chloro alkyl idene/aryl idene malonates as shown in Table I. 

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