Esters from carbonylation

Carbonyl Chloride.—The simplest proof of the constitution of the hypothetical substance carbonic acid, H2CO3, is through the synthesis of its salts and esters from carbonyl chloride or phosgene, COCI2. This latter compound is the product of the reaction of the lower oxide of carbon, viz., carbon monoxide, CO, with chlorine in the sunlight or in the presence of a carbon catalyser. 

Hidalgo, F.J., and R. Zamora, hr Vitro Production of Long Chain Pyrrole Fatty Esters from Carbonyl-Amine Reactions, J. Lipid Res. 36 725-735 (1995). 

The formation of a,P-epoxy carboxylic esters from carbonyl compounds and a-halo esters is not just an undesired side reaction, but is also an important synthetic method known as Darzens reaction. 

Acylenamino Acid Esters from Carbonyl Compounds and Isocyanoacetic... 

Alcohols can be prepared from carbonyl compounds by reduction of car boxy he acids and esters See Table 15 3... 

The stoichiometric and the catalytic reactions occur simultaneously, but the catalytic reaction predominates. The process is started with stoichiometric amounts, but afterward, carbon monoxide, acetylene, and excess alcohol give most of the acrylate ester by the catalytic reaction. The nickel chloride is recovered and recycled to the nickel carbonyl synthesis step. The main by-product is ethyl propionate, which is difficult to separate from ethyl acrylate. However, by proper control of the feeds and reaction conditions, it is possible to keep the ethyl propionate content below 1%. Even so, this is significantly higher than the propionate content of the esters from the propylene oxidation route. 

Garboxylation Reaction. The carboxylation reaction represents the conversion of acetylene and olefins into carboxyHc acids (qv) or their derivatives. The industrially important Reppe process is used in the synthesis of P-unsaturated esters from acetylene. Nickel carbonyl is the catalyst of choice (134). 

The direct preparation of arylboronic esters from aryl halides or triflates now allows a one-pot, two-step procedure for the synthesis of unsymmetrical biaryls (Scheme 1-41) [147]. The synthesis of biaryls is readily carried out in the same flask when the first coupling of the triflate with diboron 82 is followed by the next reaction with another triflate. The synthesis of naturally occurring biflavanoids and the couphng of N-(phenylfluorenyl)amino carbonyl compounds to polymeric supports are reported [154]. 

Air-stable palladium(O) catalyst, [(Cy3P)2Pd(H)(H20)]BF4, catalyses carbonylation of propargylic alcohols to generate dienoic acids and esters (equation 167)286. Since propar-gyl alcohols are obtained from carbonyl compounds by acetyhde addition reactions, this sequence constitutes a three-carbon homologation. a-Allenic alcohols are converted to tt-vinylacrylic acids under similar conditions (equation 168)287. 

When the presence of a carbonyl group (> 0 = 0) has been established further study will reveal whether the carbonyl group is aldehyde, ketonic, ester or samide etc. Aldehydes can be recognised by its characteristics C-H stretching, esters from its C-0 stretching and amides for N-H stretching. 

Chiral 4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate esters are important chiral C4-building blocks [43-53]. For example, (i )- and (S)-isomers can be converted to L-car-nitine and the hydroxymethyl glutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitor. Since these compounds are used as pharmaceuticals, a high optical purity is required. A practical enzymatic method for the production of chiral 4-chloro-3-hydroxy-butanoate esters from prochiral carbonyl compounds, i.e.,4-chloroacetoacetate esters, or racemic 4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate esters is described. 

Whereas the pATa for the a-protons of aldehydes and ketones is in the region 17-19, for esters such as ethyl acetate it is about 25. This difference must relate to the presence of the second oxygen in the ester, since resonance stabilization in the enolate anion should be the same. To explain this difference, overlap of the non-carbonyl oxygen lone pair is invoked. Because this introduces charge separation, it is a form of resonance stabilization that can occur only in the neutral ester, not in the enolate anion. It thus stabilizes the neutral ester, reduces carbonyl character, and there is less tendency to lose a proton from the a-carbon to produce the enolate. Note that this is not a new concept we used the same reasoning to explain why amides were not basic like amines (see Section 4.5.4). 

The IR carbonyl stretch frequencies for a number of simple A,A-dialkoxyamides, -ureas and -carbamates are presented in Table 11 and reflect an increase of between 20 and 30 cm relative to the hydroxamic esters from which they were derived. In confirmation of theoretical studies, N—C(0) double-bond character is considerably less than in the hydroxamic esters, although the carbonyl stretch frequencies are not as... 

Dialkylboron trifluoromethanesulfonates (Inflates) are particularly useful reagents for the preparation of boron enolates from carbonyl compounds, including ketones, thioesters and acyloxazoiidinones. Recentiy, the combination of dicylohexyiboron trifluoromethanesulfonate and triethyiamine was found to effect the enolization of carboxyiic esters. The boron-mediated asymmetric aldoi reaction of carboxyiic esters is particuiariy usefui for the construction of anti p-hydroxy-a-melhyl carbonyl units. The present procedure is a siight modification of that reported by Brown, et ai. ... 

HRu(OO) X, produced by addition of suitable iodide promoters, i.e. OH3X or AIX3 + HPF5, in this case seems essential to the activation of the substrate and for the hydrogenation of the formyl moiety to methyl derivatives (Fig. 2). On the other hand, iodide promoters which act also as Lewis acids (i.e. AIX3) favour the formation of products derived from carbonylation and homologation of the alkyl part of the formic ester. 

In addition to preparation of arylhydrazones from the carbonyl compounds and an arylhydrazine, the Japp-Klingemann reaction of arenediazonium ions with enolates and enamines is an important method for preparation of arylhydrazones. This method provides a route to monoarylhydrazones of a-dicarbonyl compounds from /3-keto acids and to the hydrazones of pyruvate esters from / -keto esters. Enamines also give rise to monoarylhydrazones of a-diketones. Indolization of these arylhydrazones provides the expected 2-acyI-or 2-alkoxycarbonyl-indoles (equations 95-97). 

The synthesis of succinic acid derivatives, /3-alkoxy esters, and a,j3-unsaturated esters from olefins by palladium catalyzed carbonylation reactions in alcohol have been reported (24, 25, 26, 27), but full experimental details of the syntheses are incomplete and in most cases the yields of yS-alkoxy ester and diester products are low. A similar reaction employing stoichiometric amounts of palladium (II) has also been reported (28). In order to explore the scope of this reaction for the syntheses of yS-alkoxy esters and succinic acid derivatives, representative cyclic and acyclic olefins were carbonylated under these same conditions (Table I). The reactions were carried out in methanol at room temperature using catalytic amounts of palladium (II) chloride and stoichiometric amounts of copper (II) chloride under 2 atm of carbon monoxide. The methoxypalladation reaction of 1-pentene affords a good conversion (55% ) of olefin to methyl 3-methoxyhexanoate, the product of Markov-nikov addition. In the carbonylation of other 1-olefins, f3-methoxy methyl esters were obtained in high yields however, substitution of a methyl group on the double bond reduced the yield of ester markedly. For example, the carbonylation of 2-methyl-l-butene afforded < 10% yield of methyl 3-methyl-3-methoxypentanoate. This suggests that unsubstituted 1-olefins may be preferentially carbonylated in the presence of substituted 1-olefins or internal olefins. The reactivities of the olefins fall in the order RCH =CHo ]> ci -RCH=CHR > trans-RCH =CHR >... 

Epoxides (see also a,(3-Epoxy alcohols, etc., Glycidic acids, esters, nitriles) From alkenes by epoxidation Dimethyldioxirane, 120 Fluorine-Acetonitrile, 135 Potassium peroxomonosulfate, 259 From carbonyl compounds Alumina, 14... 

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