Oxidative ester cleavage

A common practical problem in synthetic organic chemistry is to attain proper phase contact between nonpolar organic compounds and inorganic salts. There are many examples of important reactions where this is a potential problem alkaline hydrolysis of esters, oxidative cleavage of olefins... 

DJERASSI RYLANDER Oxidation Ru04 in oxidative cleavage ot phenols or alkenes oxidation ol aromatics to quinones oxidation ol alkyl amides to irmdes or ol ethers lo esters... 

Dimethoxybenzyl esters prepared from the acid chloride and the benzyl alcohol are readily cleaved oxidatively by DDQ (CH2CI2, H2O, rt, 18 h, 90-95% yield). A 4-methoxybenzyl ester was found not to be cleaved by DDQ. The authors have also explored the oxidative cleavage (ceric ammonium nitrate, CH3CN, H2O, 0°, 4 h, 65-97% yield) of a variety of 4-hydroxy- and 4-amino-substituted phenolic esters. ... 

A cursory inspection of key intermediate 8 (see Scheme 1) reveals that it possesses both vicinal and remote stereochemical relationships. To cope with the stereochemical challenge posed by this intermediate and to enhance overall efficiency, a convergent approach featuring the union of optically active intermediates 18 and 19 was adopted. Scheme 5a illustrates the synthesis of intermediate 18. Thus, oxidative cleavage of the trisubstituted olefin of (/ )-citronellic acid benzyl ester (28) with ozone, followed by oxidative workup with Jones reagent, affords a carboxylic acid which can be oxidatively decarboxylated to 29 with lead tetraacetate and copper(n) acetate. Saponification of the benzyl ester in 29 with potassium hydroxide provides an unsaturated carboxylic acid which undergoes smooth conversion to trans iodolactone 30 on treatment with iodine in acetonitrile at -15 °C (89% yield from 29).24 The diastereoselectivity of the thermodynamically controlled iodolacto-nization reaction is approximately 20 1 in favor of the more stable trans iodolactone 30. 

Oxidative cleavage of 2-nitrocyclohexanones gives a,co-dicarboxylic acids or their esters, as shown in Eq. 5.18.33... 

The typical metabolic reactions of pyrethroids are hydrolysis of an ester linkage and oxidation of an alkyl group or an aromatic ring in either acid or alcohol moiety, as shown in Fig. 6. The oxidative cleavage of the C=C bond of the prop-l-enyl... 

Peng HM, Raner GM, Vaz AD, et al. Oxidative cleavage of esters and amides to carbonyl products by cytochrome P450. Arch Biochem Biophys 1995 318(2) 333—339. 

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