Ethers alkoxides

Tosylate is displaced by weak oxyanions with little elimination in aprotic solvents, providing alternative routes to polymer-bound esters and aryl ethers. Alkoxides, unfortunately, give significant functional yields of (vinyl)polystyrene under the same conditions. Phosphines and sulfides can also be prepared from the appropriate anions (57), the latter lipophilic enough for phase-transfer catalysis free from poisonning by released tosylate. 

Because the cellulose ether alkoxide is present entirely in the aqueous phase, the rate-limiting step may be the partitioning (phase transport) of the hydrophobic electrophile across the interface from the organic to aqueous phase. If the reaction rate is controlled by diffusion of the electrophile across the interface, then one would expect a correlation between water solubility of the hydrophobe and its alkylation efficiency. The fact that the actual alkylation reaction is probably occurring in the aqueous phase (or at the interface) yet the electrophile itself is principally soluble in the organic phase has important mechanistic ramifications. This type of synthetic problem, in which one reactant is water soluble and the other organic soluble, should be amenable to the techniques of phase transfer catalysis (PTC) to yield significant improvements in the alkylation efficiency. 

Theory would predict that PTC should be useful in increasing the alkylation efficiency of hydrophobic electrophiles with cellulose ether alkoxides. However, there is very little previous work reported in using PTC in the preparation of cellulose ethers. Daly and coworkers10 reported that quaternary ammonium salts were useful in catalyzing the heterogeneous benzylation of cellulose, but when we applied this technique to the DPGE alkylation of nascent HEC in aqueous /-butyl alcohol, the presence of catalytic amounts of tetramethylammonium chloride or tetrabutylammonium bromide actually afforded lower alkylation efficiencies. 

Lewis acids are thus electron-deficient molecules or ions such as BF-, or carbo-cations, whereasTewis bases are molecules or ions containing available electrons. such as amines, ethers, alkoxide ions, and so forth.,A Lewis acid-base reaction is the combination of an acid and a base to form a complex, or adduct. The stabilities of these adducts depend on the structures of the constituent acid and base and vary over a wide range. Some examples of Lewis acid—base reactions are given in Table 3.19. Lewis acid-base reactions abound in organic chemistry ... 

Basic catalysts crown ether alkoxide/phenoxide... 

It should be noted that a sol-gel process may also take place through nonhydrolytic pathways. In these systems, a metal halide reacts with an oxygen donor such as ethers, alkoxides, etc. to yield a crosslinked metal oxide product (Eq. 18). 

Cu-catalysed substitution of allyl ethers (alkoxide leaving group). Very similar synthetically useful reactions are exhibited by a-ethylenic acetals and ortho-esters. ... 

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