Esters a-hydroxylation

Hydroxy acids compounds that contain both a hydroxyl and a carboxylic acid function have the capacity to form cyclic esters called lactones This intramolecular esterification takes place spontaneously when the ring that is formed is five or six membered Lac tones that contain a five membered cyclic ester are referred to as 7 lactones, their six membered analogs are known as 8 lactones... 

Section 19 15 An intramolecular esterification can occur when a molecule contains both a hydroxyl and a carboxyl group Cyclic esters are called lactones and are most stable when the nng is five or six membered... 

Esters. Most acryhc acid is used in the form of its methyl, ethyl, and butyl esters. Specialty monomeric esters with a hydroxyl, amino, or other functional group are used to provide adhesion, latent cross-linking capabihty, or different solubihty characteristics. The principal routes to esters are direct esterification with alcohols in the presence of a strong acid catalyst such as sulfuric acid, a soluble sulfonic acid, or sulfonic acid resins addition to alkylene oxides to give hydroxyalkyl acryhc esters and addition to the double bond of olefins in the presence of strong acid catalyst (19,20) to give ethyl or secondary alkyl acrylates. 

Composition. Shellac is primarily a mixture of aUphatic polyhydroxy acids in the form of lactones and esters. It has an acid number of ca 70, a saponification number of ca 230, a hydroxyl number of ca 260, and an iodine number of ca 15. Its average molecular weight is ca 1000. Shellac is a complex mixture, but some of its constituents have been identified. Aleuritic acid, an optically inactive 9,10,16-trihydroxypalmitic acid, has been isolated by saponification. Related carboxyflc acids such as 16-hydroxy- and 9,10-dihydroxypalmitic acids, also have been identified after saponification. These acids may not be primary products of hydrolysis, but may have been produced by the treatment. Studies show that shellac contains carboxyflc acids with long methylene chains, unsaturated esters, probably an aliphatic aldehyde, a saturated aliphatic ester, a primary alcohol, and isolated or unconjugated double bonds. 

Uretha.nes. Urethane elastomers are prepared by the reaction of an isocyanate molecule with a high molecular weight ester or ether molecule. The result is either an elastomeric mbber form or a Hquid prepolymer that can be vulcanised with an amine or a hydroxyl molecule (see Urethane POLYAffiRS). 

Constmction of multilayers requires that the monolayer surface be modified to a hydroxylated one. Such surfaces can be prepared by a chemical reaction and the conversion of a nonpolar terminal group to a hydroxyl group. Examples of such reactions are the LiAlH reduction of a surface ester group (165), the hydroboration—oxidation of a terminal vinyl group (127,163), and the conversion of a surface bromide using silver chemistry (200). Once a subsequent monolayer is adsorbed on the "activated" monolayer, multilayer films may be built by repetition of this process (Fig. 8). 

Nontoxic ahphatic compounds containing carboxyl, ester, or hydroxyl groups are readily biodegradable. Those with dicarboxyhc groups require longer acclimation times than those with a single carboxyl group. 

Alkannin occurs in the roots of the plant as the alkah-sensitive ester of angelic acid (62). It may be extracted from the roots by using boiling light petroleum ether. Treatment of this extract with dilute sodium hydroxide gives a blue solution from which the dye is precipitated by the addition of acid. The cmde product is purified by vacuum sublimation (63). Its stmcture (11) is a hydroxylated naphthoquinone with a long, unsaturated side chain (64,65) it has the (3)-configuration. 

Hydrolytic enzymes such as esterases and Upases have proven particularly useful for asymmetric synthesis because of their abiUties to discriminate between enantiotopic ester and hydroxyl groups. A large number of esterases and Upases are commercially available in large quantities many are inexpensive and accept a broad range of substrates. 

However, this does not explain the structural requirements for the oxygen function vicinal to the nitrite ester a-ketones, ketals and hydroxyls are cleaved, but a-acetoxyls are not. 

In the endoplasmic reticulum of eukaryotic cells, the oxidation of the terminal carbon of a normal fatty acid—a process termed ch-oxidation—can lead to the synthesis of small amounts of dicarboxylic acids (Figure 24.27). Cytochrome P-450, a monooxygenase enzyme that requires NADPH as a coenzyme and uses O, as a substrate, places a hydroxyl group at the terminal carbon. Subsequent oxidation to a carboxyl group produces a dicarboxylic acid. Either end can form an ester linkage to CoA and be subjected to /3-oxidation, producing a... 

A nitrophenylsulfenate, cleaved by nucleophiles under very mild conditions, was developed as protection for a hydroxyl group during solid-phase nucleotide synthesis. The sulfenate ester is stable to the acidic hydrolysis of acetonides. ... 

The Barton reaction is usually carried out by irradiation of a nitrite ester 1 dissolved in a hydroxyl-free solvent under nitrogen atmosphere. Possible side-reactions can be decomposition reactions and intermolecular reactions sometimes the disproportionation may even predominate ... 

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