Epoxidation with water

To add two OH groups in an anti addition, we will employ a two-step process we will first make an epoxide, and then we will open the epoxide with water under conditions of acid-catalysis ... 

Jacobsen et al. [48], in 1997 for the first time demonstrated KR of racemic terminal epoxides with water as nucleophile for the production of optically pure epoxides and corresponding 1,2-diols. Since then, various other nucleophiles viz., carboxylic acids, phenols, thiols, amines, carbamates and indols were used in KR to produce optically pure epoxides with concomitant production of corresponding enantioenriched l,2-bifimctional moieties [49-52]. 

Kinetic resolution of racemic terminal epoxide with water (HKR) is an attractive strategy for the synthesis of valuable enantiopure terminal epoxide and corresponding diol. Easy availability of terminal epoxides at cheaper price and water as sole reagent with a recoverable chiral catalyst makes this solvent free protocol very attractive for its commercial exploitation [53, 54]. Both terminal epoxides and respective diols in their chirally pure form have wider applications in academics and industry [48, 50]. For the efficient resolution the reaction rates of the two enantiomers must be unequal and the reaction must be stopped when only one enantiomer reacts to give a maximum of 50% product leaving behind the other enantiomer unreacted. 

Rudler and coworkers reported that in the case of moderately acid-sensitive epoxides the use of biphasic reaction conditions (H2O/CH2CI2) proved to be sufficient in order to obtain the epoxides with good selectivity because under biphasic conditions the contact of epoxides with water is minimized. Because of the lability of pyridines under the reaction conditions employed, alternative and more stable cocatalysts such as pyrazole (12 mol%, biphasic conditions), bipyridine (6 mol%, biphasic conditions H20/CH2Cl2) and bipyridine-A,Af -dioxide (1.2mol%) were employed together with MTO (Scheme Pyrazole is stable against oxidation and with this additive... 

Generally epoxide hydrations cited here will be of two types. The first involves heating the epoxide with water alone at 100-125°. frequently in a sealed tube The second, treating it with water at moderate temperaturew in the presence of a trace of acid. Meet commonly employed for this purpose is sulfuric acid although perchloric acid has likewise keen reported oil occasion Acetic acid, formic acid, hydrochloric add, hydrobromjc acid, and hydroiodio arid can be used... 

Hydrolytic Kinetic Resolution of Terminal Epoxides with Water (Scheme 6.9)... 

The rate-determining step is a SN 2 reaction of the protonated epoxide with water. 

Chiral (salen)Co catalysts were found to be efficient catalysts for hydrolytic kinetic resolution of terminal epoxides with water [78]. The solvent-free reaction condition with racemic propylene oxide with 0.55 equiv of water and 0.2 mol%... 

One of the most significant discoveries in asymmetric catalysis is without question Jacobsen s kinetic resolution reaction of racemic mono-substituted epoxides with water [131] and other nucleophUes [32,131,132]. The Co-salen complex 142 provides reliable access to a wide range of terminal epoxides in exceptionally high optical purities (> 99 % ee), as well as the corresponding... 

To a mixture of 100 ml of THF and 0.10 mol of the epoxide (note 1) was added 0.5 g Of copper(I) bromide. A solution of phenylmagnesium bromide (prepared from 0.18 mol of bromobenzene, see Chapter II, Exp. 5) in 130 ml of THF was added drop-wise in 20 min at 20-30°C. After an additional 30 min the black reaction mixture was hydrolysed with a solution of 2 g of NaCN or KCN and 20 g of ammonium chloride in 150 ml of water. The aqueous layer was extracted three times with diethyl ether. The combined organic solutions were washed with water and dried over magnesium sulfate. The residue obtained after concentration of the solution in a water-pump vacuum was distilled through a short column, giving the allenic alcohol, b.p. 100°C/0.2 mmHg, n. 1.5705, in 75% yield. 

Dieldrin [60-57-1] or l,2,3,4,10,10-hexachloro-l,4,4t ,5,8,8t -hexahydro-6,7-epoxy-l,4- <7o, Aro-5,8-dimethanonaphthalene (34) (mp 176°C, vp 0.4 mPa at 20°C) is formed from aldrin by epoxidation with peracetic or perben2oic acids. It is soluble in water to 27 / g/L. Aldrin and dieldrin have had extensive use as soil insecticides and for seed treatments. Dieldrin, which is very persistent, has had wide use to control migratory locusts, as a residual spray to control the Anopheles vectors of malaria, and to control tsetse flies. Because of environmental persistence and propensity for bio accumulation, registrations in the United States were canceled in 1974. 

The zwitterion (6) can react with protic solvents to produce a variety of products. Reaction with water yields a transient hydroperoxy alcohol (10) that can dehydrate to a carboxyUc acid or spHt out H2O2 to form a carbonyl compound (aldehyde or ketone, R2CO). In alcohoHc media, the product is an isolable hydroperoxy ether (11) that can be hydrolyzed or reduced (with (CH O) or (CH2)2S) to a carbonyl compound. Reductive amination of (11) over Raney nickel produces amides and amines (64). Reaction of the zwitterion with a carboxyUc acid to form a hydroperoxy ester (12) is commercially important because it can be oxidized to other acids, RCOOH and R COOH. Reaction of zwitterion with HCN produces a-hydroxy nitriles that can be hydrolyzed to a-hydroxy carboxyUc acids. Carboxylates are obtained with H2O2/OH (65). The zwitterion can be reduced during the course of the reaction by tetracyanoethylene to produce its epoxide (66). 

After epoxidation a distillation is performed to remove the propylene, propylene oxide, and a portion of the TBHP and TBA overhead. The bottoms of the distillation contains TBA, TBHP, some impurities such as formic and acetic acid, and the catalyst residue. Concentration of this catalyst residue for recycle or disposal is accompHshed by evaporation of the majority of the TBA and other organics (141,143,144), addition of various compounds to yield a metal precipitate that is filtered from the organics (145—148), or Hquid extraction with water (149). Low (<500 ppm) levels of soluble catalyst can be removed by adsorption on soHd magnesium siUcate (150). The recovered catalyst can be treated for recycle to the epoxidation reaction (151). 

After epoxidation, propylene oxide, excess propylene, and propane are distilled overhead. Propane is purged from the process propylene is recycled to the epoxidation reactor. The bottoms Hquid is treated with a base, such as sodium hydroxide, to neutralize the acids. Acids in this stream cause dehydration of the 1-phenylethanol to styrene. The styrene readily polymerizes under these conditions (177—179). Neutralization, along with water washing, allows phase separation such that the salts and molybdenum catalyst remain in the aqueous phase (179). Dissolved organics in the aqueous phase ate further recovered by treatment with sulfuric acid and phase separation. The organic phase is then distilled to recover 1-phenylethanol overhead. The heavy bottoms are burned for fuel (180,181). 

Methylene chloride is one of the more stable of the chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents. Its initial thermal degradation temperature is 120°C in dry air (1). This temperature decreases as the moisture content increases. The reaction produces mainly HCl with trace amounts of phosgene. Decomposition under these conditions can be inhibited by the addition of small quantities (0.0001—1.0%) of phenoHc compounds, eg, phenol, hydroquinone, -cresol, resorcinol, thymol, and 1-naphthol (2). Stabilization may also be effected by the addition of small amounts of amines (3) or a mixture of nitromethane and 1,4-dioxane. The latter diminishes attack on aluminum and inhibits kon-catalyzed reactions of methylene chloride (4). The addition of small amounts of epoxides can also inhibit aluminum reactions catalyzed by iron (5). On prolonged contact with water, methylene chloride hydrolyzes very slowly, forming HCl as the primary product. On prolonged heating with water in a sealed vessel at 140—170°C, methylene chloride yields formaldehyde and hydrochloric acid as shown by the following equation (6). 

A solution of the epoxide in acetic acid at room temperature is heated under reflux for 2-3 hr. The reaction mixture is then cooled to ca. 40° and concentrated in vacuo to ca. 1/4 volume. The concentrate is diluted with water and extracted with ether. The ether extract is washed with an equal volume of water, dried (MgS04) and concentrated in vacuo. The crude or recrystallized product is then treated with an equal weight of mesyl chloride in dry pyridine at 0° for about 24 hr. A refluxing mixture of the mesylate and 25 % methanolic potassium hydroxide (wt/wt) affords the -epoxide. 

A mixture of the epoxide ca. 5 mmol), sodium azide (6 g, activated by the method of Smith) and 0.25 ml of concentrated sulfuric acid in 70 ml of dimethyl sulfoxide is heated in a flask fitted with a reflux condenser and a drierite tube on a steam bath for 30-40 hr. (Caution carry out reaction in a hood.) The dark reaction mixture is poured into 500 ml of ice water and the product may be filtered, if solid, and washed well with water or extracted with ether and washed with sodium bicarbonate and the water. The crude azido alcohols are usually recrystallized from methanol. 

Epoxides, like other ethers, are cleaved by nucleophiles under acidic conditions. For example, cyclopentene oxide produces a mixture of 1,2-cyclopentanediol stereoisomers when treated with water and sulfuric acid. 

To a solution of m-ethyl cinnamate (44, 352 mg, 85% pure, 1.70 mmol) and 4-phenylpyridine-A-oxide (85.5 mg, 29 mol%) in 1,2-dichloromethane (4.0 mL) was added catalyst 12 (38.0 mg, 3.5 mol%). The resulting brown solution was cooled to 4°C and then combined with 4.0 mL (8.9 mmol) of pre-cooled bleach solution. The two-phase mixture was stirred for 12 h at 4°C. The reaction mixture was diluted with methyl-t-butyl ether (40 mL) and the organic phase separated, washed with water (2 x 40 mL), brine (40 mL), and then dried over Na2S04. The drying agent was removed by filtration the mother liquors concentrated under reduce pressure. The resulting residue was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, pet ether/ether = 87 13 v/v) to afford a fraction enriched in cis-epoxide (45, cis/trans . 96 4, 215 mg) and a fraction enriched in trans-epoxide cis/trans 13 87, 54 mg). The combined yield of pure epoxides was 83%. ee of the cis-epoxide was determined to be 92% and the trans-epoxide to be 65%. 

Treatment of the following epoxide with aqueous acid produces a carbocation intermediate that reacts with water to give a diol product. Show the structure of the carbocation, and propose a mechanism for the second step. 

Jacobsen has utilized [(salen)Co]-catalyzed kinetic resolutions of tenninal epoxides to prepare N-nosyl aziridines with high levels of enantioselectivity [72], A range of racemic aryl and aliphatic epoxides are thus converted into aziridines in a four-step process, by sequential treatment with water (0.55 equivalents), Ns-NH-BOC, TFA, Ms20, and carbonate (Scheme 4.49). Despite the apparently lengthy procedure, overall yields of the product aziridines are excellent and only one chromatographic purification is required in the entire sequence. 

Two recent reports described addition of nitrogen-centered nucleophiles in usefully protected fonn. Jacobsen reported that N-Boc-protected sulfonamides undergo poorly selective (salen) Co-catalyzed addition to racemic epoxides. However, by performing a one-pot, indirect kinetic resolution with water first (HKR, vide infra, Table 7.1) and then sulfonamide, it was possible to obtain highly enantiomer-ically enriched addition products (Scheme 7.39) [71]. These products were transformed into enantioenriched terminal aziridines in straightforward manner. 

Previous syntheses of terminal alkynes from aldehydes employed Wittig methodology with phosphonium ylides and phosphonates. 6 7 The DuPont procedure circumvents the use of phosphorus compounds by using lithiated dichloromethane as the source of the terminal carbon. The intermediate lithioalkyne 4 can be quenched with water to provide the terminal alkyne or with various electrophiles, as in the present case, to yield propargylic alcohols, alkynylsilanes, or internal alkynes. Enantioenriched terminal alkynylcarbinols can also be prepared from allylic alcohols by Sharpless epoxidation and subsequent basic elimination of the derived chloro- or bromomethyl epoxide (eq 5). A related method entails Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation of an allylic chloride and base treatment of the acetonide derivative.8 In these approaches the product and starting material contain the same number of carbons. 

---