Ethers metal alkoxides

Alkoxide ion (RO ) The oxygen atom of a metal alkoxide acts as a nucleophile to replace the halogen of an alkyl halide The product is an ether... 

Alkaline earth metal alkoxides decompose to carbonates, olefins, hydrogen, and methane calcium alkoxides give ketones (65). For aluminum alkoxides, thermal stability decreases as follows primary > secondary > tertiary the respective decomposition temperatures are ca 320°C, 250°C, and 140°C. Decomposition products are ethers, alcohols, and olefins. 

Most successful approaches involving addition reactions in the presence of chiral additives utilize organolithium, organomagnesium and the recently introduced organotitanium reagents, which are known to coordinate with amines, ethers, metal amides and alkoxides. 

See fluorinated cyclopropenyl methyl ethers See other metal alkoxides... 

The alkoxide group R is chosen so that the heavier alkali metal alkoxide MOR is soluble in ether or hydrocarbon solvents and so the by-product LiOR may easily be separated from the desired heavier alkali metal phosphide/arsenide (which is often insoluble in weakly or noncoordinating solvents such as ethers and hydrocarbons). 

Tab. 10.8 summarizes the application of rhodium-catalyzed allylic etherification to a variety of racemic secondary allylic carbonates, using the copper(I) alkoxide derived from 2,4-dimethyl-3-pentanol vide intro). Although the allyhc etherification is tolerant of linear alkyl substituents (entries 1-4), branched derivatives proved more challenging in terms of selectivity and turnover, the y-position being the first point at which branching does not appear to interfere with the substitution (entry 5). The allylic etherification also proved feasible for hydroxymethyl, alkene, and aryl substituents, albeit with lower selectivity (entries 6-9). This transformation is remarkably tolerant, given that the classical alkylation of a hindered metal alkoxide with a secondary alkyl halide would undoubtedly lead to elimination. Hence, regioselective rhodium-catalyzed allylic etherification with a secondary copper(l) alkoxide provides an important method for the synthesis of allylic ethers. 

Alkyl halides undergo Sn2 reactions with a variety of nucleophiles, e.g. metal hydroxides (NaOH or KOH), metal alkoxides (NaOR or KOR) or metal cyanides (NaCN or KCN), to produce alcohols, ethers or nitriles, respectively. They react with metal amides (NaNH2) or NH3, 1° amines and 2° amines to give 1°, 2° or 3° amines, respectively. Alkyl halides react with metal acetylides (R C=CNa), metal azides (NaN3) and metal carboxylate (R C02Na) to produce internal alkynes, azides and esters, respectively. Most of these transformations are limited to primary alkyl halides (see Section 5.5.2). Higher alkyl halides tend to react via elimination. 

Ethers are prepared from alkyl halides by the treatment of metal alkoxide. This is known as Williamson ether synthesis (see Sections 4.3.6 and 5.5.2). Williamson ether synthesis is an important laboratory method for the preparation of both symmetrical and unsymmetrical ethers. Symmetrical ethers are prepared by dehydration of two molecules of primary alcohols and H2SO4 (see Sections 4.3.7 and 5.5.3). Ethers are also obtained from alkenes either by acid-catalysed addition of alcohols or alkoxymercuration-reduction (see Section 5.3.1). 

Chiral metal alkoxides and naphthoxides have been used as catalysts for asymmetric Michael reaction. An early successful example was reported by Cram et al., who used 4 mol % of KO Bu-chiral crown ether 8 complex as the catalyst to afford the Michael adduct with up to 99% ee (Scheme 8D.7) [16], In this case KO Bu complexed with chiral crown ether 8 plays two... 

The elimination of ethers can play an important role in the processes of hydrolysis of metal alkoxides, where the formation of crystalline oxides is observed already at low temperatures. For example, the action of the excess of water on Bi(OEt)3 solution in benzene provides a-Bi203 and EtjO [1610],... 

The second way is characteristic only of metal alkoxides and involves the elimination of ethers ... 

The ether elimination is also observed as the first step in thermal decomposition of these alkoxides. The same reaction appears also to be responsible for the observed difference in the hydrolytic behavior of molybdenum and tungsten alkoxides the hydrolysis of the W alkoxides leads as for the majority of other metal alkoxides to the formation of hydroxospecies, forming sols and gels on polycondensation, while in the case of Mo alkoxides the added water, being a stronger acid than alcohols, acts as a catalyst for the ether elimination reaction and causes the formation of individual isopolyanions (independently of the nature of the alkyl radical or quantity of water added) [1774] ... 

In order that an alternating copolymer is produced, the metal alkoxide must undergo faster insertion of carbon dioxide than reaction with a second equivalent of epoxide. If the metal alkoxide reacts with a second epoxide or undergoes decarboxylation reactions, ether linkage(s) may be formed. Ether linkages are undesirable as they compromise the properties of the polymer and reduce the carbon dioxide uptake. 

Ethers For the synthesis of ether, the Williamson ether synthesis is considered as the best method. It involves the SN2 reaction between a metal alkoxide and a primary alkyl halide or tosylate. The alkoxide needed for the reaction is obtained by treating an alcohol with a strong base like sodium hydride. An alternative procedure is to treat the alcohol directly with the alkyl halide in the presence of silver oxide, thus avoiding the need to prepare the alkoxide beforehand. 

In contrast, alkylaryl ethers can be produced in analogy to the Dow process (Figure 5.62, top). Alkali metal alkoxides are even more basic/nucleophilic than alkali metal hydroxides. If, moreover, potassium alkoxide and bromo- or chlorobenzene are reacted in DMSO—i.e. in an aprotic dipolar solvent that does not provide the alkoxide ions with any noticeable stabilization through solvation—very good yields may already be achieved at room temperature (Figure 5.62, bottom). 

Another route for the production of materials involves the reaction of hydrolysis-condensation of metal alkoxides with water. We study here the important case of amorphous silica synthesis. In this case [38,39,44], silicic acid is first produced by the hydrolysis of a silicon alkoxide, formally a silicic acid ether. The silicic acids consequently formed can either undergo self-condensation, or condensation with the alkoxide. The global reaction continues as a condensation polymerization to form high molecular weight polysilicates. These polysilicates then connect together to form a network, whose pores are filled with solvent molecules, that is, a gel is formed [45],... 

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