Esterification reaction with pentafluorobenzyl

Chau and Terry [146] reported the formation of penta-fluorobenzyl derivatives of ten herbicidal acids including 4-chloro-2-methyl-phenoxy acetic acid [145]. They found that 5h was an optimum reaction time at room temperature with pentafluorobenzyl bromide in the presence of potassium carbonate solution. Agemian and Chau [147] studied the residue analysis of 4-chloro-2-methyl phenoxy acetic acid and 4-chloro-2-methyl phenoxy butyric acid from water samples by making the pentafluorobenzyl derivatives. Bromination [148], nitrification [149] and esterification with halogenated alcohol [145] have also been used to study the residue analysis of 4-chloro-2-methyl phenoxy acetic acid and 4-chloro-2-methyl phenoxybutyric acid. Recently pentafluorobenzyl derivatives of phenols and carboxylic acids were prepared for detection by electron capture at very low levels [150, 151]. Pentafluorobenzyl bromide has also been used for the analytical determination of organophosphorus pesticides [152],... 

The parameters considered were the reaction time, the amount of reagent (penta-fluorobenzylbromide, PFBBr) or catalyst (BF3), and the reaction temperature. On derivatiz-ing with pentafluorobenzylation, the most critical factors were foimd to be the concentration of PFBBr and the interaction "temperature-time," which improve the derivatization efficiency. Therefore, after optimization, BF3 /methanol esterification followed by GC—MS is as sensitive as pentafluorobenzylation used with GC-ECD, and more reproducible. 

In the case where liquid chromatography is not available, acidic herbicides need to be derivatized because they can dissociate in water and are not usually volatile to be analyzed by gas chromatography. The basic methods used for chlorophenoxy acid herbicides are esterification, silylation, and alkylation, as described in a recent exhaustive review.The derivatization step is performed after preconcentration and cleanup. The step consists of the formation of esters and ethers from the carboxyl and phenol groups of the acidic herbicides. A lot of reagents and chemical mechanisms can be used to perform derivatization reactions. The most employed derivatization reagents are diazomethane, methyliodide, trimethylsulfonium (or anilinium) hydroxide, bis (trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA), pentafluorobenzyl bromide, and anhydride acetate. It should be noted that explosive and hazardous diazomethane was replaced by safer agents. Authors also underline that surface water generally contains humic substances, which can interfere with the derivatization reaction. ... 

As an alternative to the potassium salt, tertiary amines and tetra-alkylammonium salts have been used instead. The acids, e.g. the dried residue from a serum extraction, are treated with an acetonitrile solution of pentafluorobenzyl chloride and di-isopropylethylamine, in a 3 1 molar ratio, at 40 °C for 5 minutes. The reaction mixture is blown dry with nitrogen if necessary the esterification may be repeated (96). lndole-3-acetic acid was similarly esterified, but using acetone as solvent and N-ethylpiperidine as the cation and reaction for 45 minutes at 60 °C [97). Tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulphate (0.1 mmol) was converted to the hydroxide with sodium hydroxide (0.2 mmol) and added to the dried acids in a serum extract with 1 ml of methylene chloride and 20 pi of pentafluorobenzyl bromide. The mixture was vigorously shaken for 30 minutes and blown down to dryness with nitrogen, and the esters were extracted into hexane for HPLC [98,99). 

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