Epoxide reaction with base

Cyclohexadienol was prepared by Rickborn in 1970 from reaction of the epoxide of 1,4-cyclohexadiene with methyl lithium.100 A hydrate of naphthalene, 1-hydroxy-1,2-dihydro-naphthalene was prepared by Bamberger in 1895 by allylic bromination of O-acylated tetralol (1-hydroxy-l,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene) followed by reaction with base.101 Hydrates of naphthalene and other polycylic aromatics are also available from oxidative fermentation of dihydroaromatic molecules, which occurs particularly efficiently with a mutant strain (UV4) of Pseudomonas putida.102,103 The hydrates are alcohols and they undergo acid-catalyzed dehydration to form the aromatic molecule by the same mechanism as other alcohols, except that the thermodynamic driving force provided by the aromatic product makes deprotonation of the carbocation (arenonium ion) a fast reaction, so that in contrast to simple alcohols, formation of the carbocation is rate-determining (Scheme 6).104,105... 

In their reaction with bases, epoxides appear to undergo typical S 2 attack. Ammonia,18 amines,19 alkoxides,20 and sodio derivatives21 react at the less substituted carbon atom (except in vinyl systems, see p. 222), and at least in one case which has been studied inversion of configuration results (p. 202). 

A step forward in the reaction was made when Katsuki disclosed the asymmetric epoxidation reaction with achiral salen Mn(III) complexes in the presence of chiral additives, whose role was to coordinate as fifth ligand to the metal center, steering the existing equilibrium between two enantiomeric conformations of the salen ligand preferentially towards only one. Subsequently, this led to the direct covalent connection of a nitrogen-based ligand to the salen scaffold leading to pentadentate... 

Full details are now available of two syntheses of crown ethers first reported in previous years (Scheme 47). In one approach alkenes are treated with yV-bromosuccinimide in the presence of a polyethylene glycol, and the resultant bromohydrins (86, 87) are cyclized by reaction with base (2,136) the other route involves reaction of polyethylene glycols, either unsubstituted or substituted (88, 89), with a sulphonyl chloride in the presence of base, i.e. in situ sulphonation-cyclization (3,159). Improved procedures for the preparation of the substituted polyethylene glycols (88) and (89) from epoxides and lower polyethylene glycols as shown have also been reported. ... 

Epoxykarahanaenone (277) gives (278) stereospecifically on reaction with base, presumably by opening of the epoxide by attack of the derived enolate anion from the back. ... 

Oxidation of aliphatic C-H groups with HP is efficiently catalysed by cis-a-aminopyridine manganese complexes in the presence of acetic acid. The reaction demonstrated excellent efficiency (up to TON = 970), site selectivity, and stereospecificity (up to >99%). Manganese(II) and iron(II) complexes based on ligands with a rigid, chiral diamine derived from proline and two benzimidazoles (2) were synthesized and applied in epoxidation reaction with aqueous HP. Mn-complex catalyses the epoxidation of olefins. Isolated yields of 60-99% and up to 95% ee were obtained with 0.01-0.2mol% catalyst loading. The turnover frequencies and turnover numbers reached 59,000 h and 9600, respectively. Iron(II) complex exhibited a... 

AH of the amine hydrogens are replaced when MDA or PMDA reacts with epoxides to form amine based polyols. These polyols can be used in reactions with isocyanates to form urethanes or with additional epoxide to form cross-linked thermo set resins. 

Dichlorides and e2thers are the main by-products in this reaction. Treatment with base produces propylene oxide. Specialty epoxides, eg, butylene oxide, are also produced on an industrial scale by means of HOCl generated from calcium hypochlorite and acetic acid followed by dehydrohalogenation with base. 

Other modifications of the polyamines include limited addition of alkylene oxide to yield the corresponding hydroxyalkyl derivatives (225) and cyanoethylation of DETA or TETA, usuaHy by reaction with acrylonitrile [107-13-1/, to give derivatives providing longer pot Hfe and better wetting of glass (226). Also included are ketimines, made by the reaction of EDA with acetone for example. These derivatives can also be hydrogenated, as in the case of the equimolar adducts of DETA and methyl isobutyl ketone [108-10-1] or methyl isoamyl ketone [110-12-3] (221 or used as is to provide moisture cure performance. Mannich bases prepared from a phenol, formaldehyde and a polyamine are also used, such as the hardener prepared from cresol, DETA, and formaldehyde (228). Other modifications of polyamines for use as epoxy hardeners include reaction with aldehydes (229), epoxidized fatty nitriles (230), aromatic monoisocyanates (231), or propylene sulfide [1072-43-1] (232). 

The most important Lewis bases are tertiary amines or polyamines converted into tertiary amines upon reaction with epoxide groups. 

An oxirane formed by the direct epoxidation, which usually occurs from the sterically least hindered side of the molecule, can be converted into its stereoisomer by a reaction sequence which involves the diaxial opening (in acetic acid at 100° for 2 hr) of the epoxide to a diol mo noacetate. Subsequent mesylation followed by treatment with base gives the inverted oxirane, as shown for the sequence (69) (70) (71) (72). ... 

Compounds are prepared by a fairly standard sequence which consists of condensation of an appropriate phenol with epichlorohydrin in the presence of base. Attack of phenoxide can proceed by means of displacement of chlorine to give epoxide (45) directly. Alternatively, opening of the epoxide leads to anion 44 this last, then, displaces halogen on the adjacent carbon to lead to the same epoxide. Reaction of the epoxide with the appropriate amine then completes the synthesis. 

Treatment of the following alkene with a peroxyacid yields an epoxide different from that obtained by reaction with aqueous Br2 followed by base treatment. Propose structures for the two epoxides, and explain the result. 

Mioskowski et al. have demonstrated a route to spirocyclopropanes. As an example, treatment of epoxide 100 with n-BuLi in pentane stereoselectively gave tricyclic alcohol 101, albeit in only 47% yield (Scheme 5.21) [29]. With a related substrate, epoxide 102 stereoselectively gave dicydopropane 103 on treatment with PhLi uniquely, the product was isolable after column chromatography in 74% yield [35]. As was also seen with attempts to perform C-H insertion reactions in a non-transannular sense, one should note that steps were taken to minimize the formation of olefin products, either by the use of a base with low nudeophilicity (LTM P) and/or by slow addition of the base to a dilute solution (10-3 m in the case of 102) of the epoxide. 

The second major discovery regarding the use of MTO as an epoxidation catalyst came in 1996, when Sharpless and coworkers reported on the use of substoichio-metric amounts of pyridine as a co-catalyst in the system [103]. A change of solvent from tert-butanol to dichloromethane and the introduction of 12 mol% of pyridine even allowed the synthesis of very sensitive epoxides with aqueous hydrogen peroxide as the terminal oxidant. A significant rate acceleration was also observed for the epoxidation reaction performed in the presence of pyridine. This discovery was the first example of an efficient MTO-based system for epoxidation under neutral to basic conditions. Under these conditions the detrimental acid-induced decomposition of the epoxide is effectively avoided. With this novel system, a variety of... 

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