Halo ethers elimination reactions

As a rule, stoichiometric cuprate reagents have provided the most consistently successful results in reactions with primary alkyl electrophiles. Diethyl ether is the solvent of choice for reactions of alkyl sulfonates, while reactions of alkyl halides appear to be facilitated by THF. The enhanced basicity of the cuprate reagent in THF may be problematic, however, when racemization of an adjacent chiral center or elimination is a competing side reaction. For example, reactions of serine-derived 3-halo esters must be performed in ether, since elimination by-products are the only products isolated when THF is employed as the solvent elimination is more problematic with sulfonate than with halide leaving groups. 

This procedure illustrates a general method for the stereoselective synthesis of ( P)-disubstitnted alkenyl alcohols. The reductive elimination of cyclic /3-halo-ethers with metals was first introduced by Paul3 and one example, the conversion of tetrahydrofurfuryl chloride [2-(chloromethyl)tetrahydrofuran] to 4-penten-l-ol, is described in an earlier volume of this series.4 In 1947 Paul and Riobe5 prepared 4-nonen-l-ol by this method, and the general method has subsequently been applied to obtain alkenyl alcohols with other substitution patterns.2,6-8 (I )-4-Hexen-l-ol has been prepared by this method9 and in lower yield by an analogous reaction with 3-bromo-2-methyltetra-hydropyran.10... 

The method is quite useful for particularly active alkyl halides such as allylic, benzylic, and propargylic halides, and for a-halo ethers and esters, but is not very serviceable for ordinary primary and secondary halides. Tertiary halides do not give the reaction at all since, with respect to the halide, this is nucleophilic substitution and elimination predominates. The reaction can also be applied to activated aryl halides (such as 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene see Chapter 13), to epoxides, " and to activated alkenes such as acrylonitrile. The latter is a Michael type reaction (p. 976) with respect to the alkene. 

The elimination of OR and halogen from P-halo ethers is called the Boord reaction. It can be carried out with zinc, magnesium, sodium, or certain other reagents.The... 

Aromatic halides react with crown ether-complexed K02 by an electron-transfer mechanism and not by nucleophilic attack, as was shown by Frimer and Rosenthal (1976) using esr spectroscopy. The corresponding phenol is the main reaction product (Yamaguchi and Van der Plas, 1977). Esters are saponified by the K02/18-crown-6 complex in benzene, presumably by an addition-elimination pathway (San Fillippo et al., 1976). The same complex has been used to cleave cr-keto-, or-hydroxy-, and or-halo-ketones, -esters, and -carboxylic acids into the corresponding carboxylic acids in synthetically useful quantities (San Fillippo et al., 1976). 

Although alcohols are oxidized by tetra-n-butylammonium persulphate when the reaction is conducted in dichloromethane, tetrahydropyranyl ethers have been produced (>90%) when attempts to oxidize the alcohol are conducted in tetrahydro-pyran (see Chapter 10) [ 19], Tetrahydrofuranyl ethers have been prepared by an analogous method [20,21 ]. Base-mediated elimination of halo acids from P-halo alcohols under phase-transfer catalysed conditions produce oxiranes in high yield (70-85%). The reaction has particular use in the synthesis of epihalohydrins from p,y-dihalo alcohols [22],... 

Scheme 2 shows a similar mechanistic pathway for a Heck reaction taking place on a Pd octahedral comer. This mechanism is based on that established for soluble Pd catalysts (ref. 5). Adsorption of the aryl halide (or aryl acid chloride after decarbonylation) gives the aryl Pd halide, 15, by way of the adsorbed intermediate, 14. Vinyl ether adsorption, as in 16, takes place as described in Scheme 1. Aryl insertion gives the halometalalkyl, 17, which on f) elimination to the available 4dxy orbital gives the aryl enol ether, 2 (or 1 depending on which hydrogen is eliminated in 17). The resulting halo palladium hydride, 18, then reacts with the tertiary amine to give the amine hydrochloride and regenerates the octahedral comer for further reaction.

Vinyl ethers have also been prepared by addition of alkoxides to acetylene,6 7 6 elimination from halo ethers and related precursors,6 8 and vinyl exchange reactions.6 Reaction of an electrophilic tungsten carbenoid with methylene phosphorane or diazomethane also produces vinyl ethers.9 Enol ethers have resulted from the reaction of some tantalum and niobium carbenoids with esters,10 and the reaction of phosphoranes with electrophilic esters.4... 

Mechanistically most of these transformations correspond to 5N2-type substitutions chiral substrates react with inversion. In certain cases, however, azides may also be obtained under 5n1 condi-tions." " " Some di- and tri-arylmethanols for instance (Scheme 32) react with HN3 in the presence of trichloroacetic acid via the corresponding carbenium ions. Sulfuric acid seems to be inferior for these transformations." " Under highly acidic conditions the intermediate (20) obviously tends to decompose with the elimination of nitrogen (c/. Schmidt reaction "). SnI substitution is also highly probable in the reaction of a-halo ethers and sulfides with azide ions." " In some cases even SRNl-type substitution was observed for the halogen/azide exchange." ... 

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