Erlenmeyer—Plochl azlactone synthesis

Formation of 5-oxazolones (or azlactones ) by intramolecular condensation of acylglycines in the presence of acetic anhydride. 

Erlenmeyer, E., Jr. Ann. 1893, 275, 1. Emil Erlenmeyer, Jr. (1864—1921) was bom in Heidelberg, Germany to Emil Erlenmeyer (1825—1909), a famous chemistry professor at the University of Heidelberg. He investigated the Erlenmeyer-Plochl azlactone synthesis while he was a Professor of Chemistry at Strasburg. 

Brooks, D. A. Erlenmeyer—Plochl Azlactone Synthesis in Name Reactions in Heterocyclic Chemistry, Li, J. J. Corey, E. J., Eds. Wiley Sons Hoboken, NJ, 2005, 229-233. (Review). 

Name Reactions, 4th ed., DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-01053-8 88, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009 

He investigated the Erlenmeyer-Plochl azlactone synthesis while he was a Professor of Chemistry at Strasburg. The Erlenmeyer flasks are ubiquitous in organic chemistry laboratories. 

The azlactones of a-benzoylaminocinnamic acids have traditionally been prepared by the action of hippuric acid (1, Ri = Ph) and acetic anhydride upon aromatic aldehydes, usually in the presence of sodium acetate. The formation of the oxazolone (2) in Erlenmeyer-Plochl synthesis is supported by good evidence. The method is a way to important intermediate products used in the synthesis of a-amino acids, peptides and related compounds. The aldol condensation reaction of azlactones (2) with carbonyl compounds is often followed by hydrolysis to provide unsaturated a-acylamino acid (4). Reduction yields the corresponding amino acid (6), while drastic hydrolysis gives the a-0X0 acid (5).  

In 1959, Crawford and Little reported superior yields of 3 in reactions of aromatic aldehydes by using isolated, crystalline 2-phenyloxazol-5-one (2, Ri = Ph) compared to direct reaction with hippuric acid (1, Ri = Ph). An early report by Boekelheide and Schramm on the use of ketones in the Erlenmeyer azlactone synthesis includes treatment 

Comforth has reviewed literature reports and independently studied the special cases of reaction of 1 with salicylaldehyde and with 2-acetoxybenzaldehyde. Coumarins (10) are afforded in the condensation of 1 with salicylaldehyde or its imine, whereas when 2-acetoxybenzaldehyde is used, acetoxy oxazolone 12 is the major product. The initial aldol condensation product between the oxazolone and 2-acetoxybenzaldehyde is the 4-(a-hydroxybenzyl)oxazolone 11, in which base-catalyzed intramolecular transacetylation is envisioned. The product 9 (R = Ac) can either be acetylated on the phenolic hydroxy group, before or after loss of acetic acid, to yield the oxazolone 12, or it can rearrange, by a second intramolecular process catalyzed by base and acid, to the hydrocoumarin, which loses acetic acid to yield 10. When salicylaldehyde is the starting material, aldol intermediate 9 (R = H) can rearrange directly to a hydrocoumarin. Comforth also accessed pure 4-(2 -hydroxyphenylmethylene)-2-phenyloxazol-5(4//)-one (13) through hydrolysis of 12 with 88% sulfuric acid. 

Bismuth(III) acetate catalyzes the synthesis of azlactones (17) from aromatic aldehydes in moderate to good yields via the Erlenmeyer synthesis. While the standard procedure for azlactone synthesis consists of using a stoichiometric amount of fused anhydrous sodium acetate, 10 mol% of Bi(OAc)3 is sufficient to catalyze the reaction and the crude product is found to be 98% pure. 

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Formation of 5-oxazolones (or azlactones ) (2) by intramolecular condensation of acylglycines (1) in the presence of acetic anhydride is known as the Erlenmeyer-Plochl azlactone synthesis. ... 

A variant of the Perkin reaction is the Erlenmeyer-Plochl-azlactone synthesis By condensation of an aromatic aldehyde 1 with an N-acyl glycine 5 in the presence of sodium acetate and acetic anhydride, an azlactone 6 is obtained via the following mechanism ... 

This reaction is related to the Erlenmeyer-Plochl Azlactone Synthesis. 

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