Electrochemical oxidation ethers

Electrochemical oxidation of alkyl aryl ethers results m oxidative dealkylation and coupling of the intermediate radicals ElectrooxidaUon m the presence of hydrogen fluonde salt leads to fluonnated dienones [66] (equation 58)... 

In the electrochemical oxidation of alkyl tetrahalogenophenyl ethers with hydrogen atoms at para positions, coupled products are obtamed [67 (equation 59) Under the same conditions, the 2,5-dihydrogen analogue gives no identifiable product [67]... 

The dehydrogenation of 2,3-dihydro- and 2,5-dihydro-l//-l-benzazepines to 3//-l-benz-azepincs with heterocyclic enamines in the presence of boron trifluoride diethyl ether complex has been achieved in moderate yields (30-35%).241 In contrast, electrochemical oxidation of 2,5-dihydro-1 H- -benzazepines in buffered acetic acid solution furnishes initially 5//-l-benz-azepines in 35-45% yield.242... 

The transformation of 7,7-diMeO-CHT to a-, and y-tropolones is also achievable by using anodic oxidation in the key step (equation 18), namely the electrochemical oxidation of an isomeric mixture of diMeO-CHTs prepared by the thermal rearrangement of 7,7-diMeO-CHT yields a mixture of methyl ethers of ji- and y-tropolones. On the other hand, the thermal rearrangement of the ethylene acetal of tropone gives 3,4-dioxyethylene-CHT as a single product due to the difficulty of formation of other isomers, and it yields the ether of a-tropolone upon anodic oxidation. 

Studies on the electrochemical oxidation of silyl-substituted ethers have uncovered a rich variety of synthetic application in recent years. Since acetals, the products of the anodic oxidation in the presence of alcohols, are readily hydrolyzed to carbonyl compounds, silyl-substituted ethers can be utilized as efficient precursors of carbonyl compounds. If we consider the synthetic application of the electrooxidation of silyl-substituted ethers, the first question which must be solved is how we synthesize ethers having a silyl group at the carbon adjacent to the oxygen. We can consider either the formation of the C-C bond (Scheme 15a) or the formation of the C-O bond (Scheme 15b). The formation of the C Si bond is also effective, but this method does not seem to be useful from a view point of organic synthesis because the required starting materials are carbonyl compounds. 

The potentiality of the present methodology is demonstrated by the synthesis of y-undecalactone, as shown in Scheme 18 [37,47], The treatment of the THP-protected cu-hydroxyalkyl iodide with the anion of methoxybis(trimethylsilyl) methane gave the corresponding alkylation product. Acidic deprotection of the hydroxyl group followed by Swern oxidation produced the aldehyde. The aldehyde was allowed to react with heptylmagnesium bromide, and the resulting alcohol was protected as tm-butyldimethylsilyl ether. The electrochemical oxidation in methanol followed by the treatment with fluoride ion afforded the y-undeealactone. 

On the basis of the electrochemical oxidation of silyl-substituted ethers, a general and iterative route to optically active polyols has been developed (Scheme 20) [51]. The key intermediates of this iterative process are jS-hydroxy-a-methoxysilanes, a protected form of a-hydroxyaldehydes. The electrochemical... 

Nitrogen compounds are also effective as nucleophiles in the anodic oxidation of silyl-substituted ethers. The electrochemical oxidation in the presence of a carbamate or a sulfonamide in dry THF or dichloromethane results in the selective cleavage of the C-Si bond and the introduction of the nitrogen nucleophile at the carbon (Scheme 21) [55]. Since a-methoxycarbamates are useful intermediates in the synthesis of nitrogen-containing compounds [44], this reaction provides useful access to such compounds. Cyclic silyl-substkuted ethers such as 2-silyltetrahydrofurans are also effective for the introduction of nitrogen nucleophiles. The anodic oxidation in the presence of a carbamate or a... 

Schafer reported that the electrochemical oxidation of silyl enol ethers results in the homo-coupling products. 1,4-diketones (Scheme 25) [59], A mechanism involving the dimerization of initially formed cation radical species seems to be reasonable. Another possible mechanism involves the decomposition of the cation radical by Si-O bond cleavage to give the radical species which dimerizes to form the 1,4-diketone. In the case of the anodic oxidation of allylsilanes and benzylsilanes, the radical intermediate is immediately oxidized to give the cationic species, because oxidation potentials of allyl radicals and benzyl radicals are relatively low. But in the case of a-oxoalkyl radicals, the oxidation to the cationic species seems to be retarded. Presumably, the oxidation potential of such radicals becomes more positive because of the electron-withdrawing effect of the carbonyl group. Therefore, the dimerization seems to take place preferentially. 

Another useful route to alkaloids involves the electrochemical oxidation of lactams (145) bearing functionality on nitrogen that can be used to intramolec-ularly capture an intermediate acyl im-minium ion (146). The concept is portrayed in Scheme 33 and is highlighted by the synthesis of alkaloids lupinine (150) and epilupinine (151) shown in Scheme 34 [60]. Thus, the electrooxidation of lactam (147) provided a 71% yield of ether (148). Subsequent treatment with titanium tetrachloride affected cyclization and afforded the [4.4.0] bicyclic adduct (149). Krapcho decarbomethoxylation followed by hydride reduction of both the... 

Another heterocyclization is presented by Panifilow et al. Cyclic acetals and ethers are obtained by electrochemical oxidation of the terpenoid alcohol linalool 57 in methanol containing alkaline and sodium methoxide as electrolyt [102]. Anodic oxidation of the C(6)-C 7) double bond of linalool leads to the radical cation 58. In addition to direct methoxylation of the radical cation an attack on the hydroxyl group takes place. After a second one-electron oxidation and following methoxylation the regioisomeric cyclic acetal and a subsequent 1,2-hydride shift, the cyclic acetal 60 and the cyclic ether 61 are finally formed in yields of 16 and 24%, respectively (Scheme 13). As shown by Utley and co-workers bicyclic lactones 65 and 66 can be synthesized by anodic oxidation... 

Phenoxanthin, 68 X = S Y = O, is prepared by the electrochemical oxidation of diphenyl ether in dichloromethane and trichloroacetic acid containing tetraethyl-ammonium perchlorate at a composite anode of carbon and sulphur. The anode generates sulphur cations, which carry out electrophilic substitution on the benzene ring [237], Phenoxathiin radical-cation, formed at the potential of the fust oxidation wave, has been characertised by esr spectroscopy [238],... 

Electrochemical oxidation of cadmium in a solution of ](4-methylphenyl)sulfonyl]-2-pyridylamine] (HL) in acetonitrile/di chloromethane mixtures resulted in CdL2 complex formation [149]. The electrochemical oxidation of cadmium amalgam in nonaqueous solvents CH2CI2, 1,2-C2H4CI2, and PC was also used for the preparation of cadmium complexes with 18-membered macromonocyclic ligands, 18-06, 18-S6, I8-N2O4, and 18-N6 [150]. The stoichiometry and stability of resulted complexes were determined. The same method was used to examine the complexation of Cd(II) cation with 12-crown-4 ether, azacrown ether 1,4,8,11-tetra-azacyclotetradecane, and thiaazacrown... 

Metal salts and complexes have also often been used as redox catalysts for the indirect electrochemical oxidation of alcohols. Particularly, the transformation of benzylic alcohols to benzaldehydes has been studies. For this purpose oxoruthe-nium(IV) and oxoruthenium(V) complexes have been applied as redox catalysts. In a similar way, certain benzyl ethers can be cleaved to yield benzaldehydes and the corresponding alcohols using a di-oxo-bridged binuclear manganese complex Electrogenerated 02(804)3 was used to generated 1-naphthaldehyde from 1-naphthylmethanol... 

Electrochemical oxidation of alkyl aryl ethers results in oxidative dealkylation and coupling of the intermediate radicals. Electro-oxidation of alkyl (4-fluorophenyl) ethers in the presence of a hydrogen fluoride double salt leads to 4,4-difluorocyclohexa-2,5-dienone in 50% yield (Table 10).182 In the electrochemical oxidation of methyl tetrafluorophenyl ethers with a hydrogen atom at the para position, coupled products 6 arc obtained.183 If the para position in the substrate is occupied by a fluorine substituent, then no reaction occurs. 

Anodic substitution can also occur easily in the a-position to heteroatoms like nitrogen or oxygen. Thus, the indirect electrochemical oxidation of ethylene glycol dimethyl ether in methanol using tris(2,4-dibromophenyl)amine as redox catalyst leads to the formation of 2-methoxyacetaldehyde dimethylacetal [25] ... 

The electrochemical oxidation of tyramine in NaOH/MeOH media gives films of polytyramine (25). The film, on a platinum electrode, can complex copper(II) ions from aqueous media and cobalt(II), iron(II), manganese(II) and zinc(II) from organic media. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy established that coordination of the metal ions had occurred. For cobalt, evidence of coordination to both ether and amine functions is obtained, but for the other metal ions evidence of ether coordination is less definitive. 

Template reactions between malonaldehydes and diamines in the presence of copper(II), nickel(II) or cobalt(II) salts yield neutral macrocyclic complexes (equation 15).99-102 Both aliphatic102 and aromatic101 diamines can be used. In certain cases, non-macrocyclic intermediates can be isolated and subsequently converted into unsymmetrical macrocyclic complexes by reaction with a different diamine (Scheme ll).101 These methods are more versatile and more convenient than an earlier template reaction in which propynal replaces the malonaldehyde (equation 16).103 This latter method can also be used for the non-template synthesis of the macrocyclic ligand in relatively poor yield. A further variation on this reaction type allows the use of an enol ether (vinylogous ester), which provides more flexibility with respect to substituents (equation 17).104 The approach illustrated in equation (15), and Scheme 11 can be extended to include reactions of (3-diketones. The benzodiazepines, which result from reaction between 1,2-diaminobenzenes and (3-diketones, can also serve as precursors in the metal template reaction (Scheme 12).101 105 106 The macrocyclic complex product (46) in this sequence, being unsubstituted on the meso carbon atom, has been shown to undergo an electrochemical oxidative dimerization (equation 18).107... 

Moeller has carried out an extensive series of studies of the electrochemical oxidation of electron-rich w-alkenes. One olefinic component is an enol ether, which is converted into an electrophilic center upon oxidation this center then attacks the other site intramolecu-larly. The anodic oxidation of the bis-enol ethers 21 in methanol25 exemplifies the course of such reactions (Scheme 4). The products are w-acetals (22), formed in 50-70% yield in many cases. The cyclization can be used to produce quaternary25 and angularly fused26 bicyclic and tricyclic structures (equation 11). In its original form, this work involved oxidation of a mono-enol ether bearing a nearby styrene-type double bond27. 

Oxidative desilylationf Silyl ethers (r-butyldimethylsilyl and trimethylsilyl) of hydroquinones are converted to quinones in 60-90% yield by PCC. Electrochemical oxidation is also possible. 

The electrochemical oxidation of aliphatic ethers is known from the literature and was investigated in more detail by Hoechst308). The use of glassy carbon anodes led to a considerable increase in the current efficiencies and extended the range of useful... 

The alkoxycarbenium ion 315, obtained by electrochemical oxidation of ct-silyl ethers under standard cation pool conditions, underwent ring opening by reaction with the nucleophile cyclohexenyltrimethylsilane to give 316 (Scheme 73) <20050L4717>. 

Annulation of furans via electrochemical oxidation at the anode has become an important process for the synthesis of complex polycycles, and was covered in a review <2000T9527>. Furans tethered at the 3-position to electron-rich alkenes, enol ethers, or vinyl sulfides were converted to [6,5] and [7,5]-fused ring systems <1996JOC1578, 2002OL3763, 2004JOG3726, 2005JA8034>, as illustrated in Scheme 20. Analysis of crude reaction mixtures and side... 

An electrochemical oxidation route to tetrahydrofuran and tetrahydropyran rings has been described, in which a silyl-substituted enol ether reacts with a regioselectivity that is reversed from the normal polarity of enol ethers (Scheme 61) <2000JA5636>. Aldol reactions of a-diazo-/ -ketoesters with aldehydes produce adducts which undergo Rh(ii)-catalyzed 0-H insertion reactions to yield highly substituted tetrahydrofurans <1997TL3837>. 

In the electrochemical oxidation, similar reaction was observed (Scheme 12). Cation radical CR26 generated by electrochemical oxidation of a-stannyl sulfides cleaves to give carbocation C26, which react with allyltrimethylsilane or the silyl enol ether of cyclohexanone to give the usual addition products. In this electrochemical reaction, stannyl derivatives also afforded the desired product 27 or 28 in better yield compared with the corresponding silyl derivatives. 

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