Ethers reaction with carboxylic acids

Reactions with Carboxylic Acid Esters Alkyl nitrones can be metallized upon treatment with phenyl lithium in ether solution. The Li-derivatives react with carboxylic acid esters to give 3-oxo nitrones (305)- the analogs of 3-diketones and j3-keto esters (545). With the help of the 13C NMR method it has been found that 3-oxo nitrones (305) exist as an equilibrium mixture... 

Acylation The reagent catalyses the arylation of activated aromatic compounds by reaction with carboxylic acids. Thus methyl phenyl ether can be acylated with acetic acid in presence of trifluoroacetic anhydride in good yields. 

Trimethylsilyl ethers and esters.i The reaction of alcohols and allyltrimethyl-silane in acetonitrile with TsOH as catalyst (70 80°, 1 3 hours) results in trimethyl-silyl ethers in 85-95% yield with elimination of propene. The same reaction with carboxylic acids results in trimclhylsilyl esters. Phenols do not undergo this reaction. 

It should finally be pointed out that trimethylsilyl ethers can also be transformed directly into other functionalities. Oxidation with NBS leads to ketones and aldehydes, treatment with LiAllWAlCb results in deoxygenation of the alcohol, reaction with carboxylic acid anhydrides in the presence of BF3-OEt2 produces esters and on treatment with PhsP Brj acid bromides are foimed directly from TMS esters. ss... 

The reactions with benzotrichloride usually require temperatures above 100°, but dichloromethyl methyl ether reacts with carboxylic acids even in the cold. Good yields are obtained when 0.01-0.1 mole-% of ZnCl2 is added to the reaction mixture, which is then heated for a short time at 70-100°. When the sodium salt of the carboxylic acid forms the starting material, heating should be for 2 hours at 90-100°. 

Menthol [(—)-l] has been used as a chiral ligand for aluminum in Lewis acid catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions with surprising success2 (Section D.l.6.1.1.1.2.2.1). The major part of its application is as a chiral auxiliary, by the formation of esters or ethers. Esters with carboxylic acids may be formed by any convenient esterification technique. Esters with saturated carboxylic acids have been used for the formation of enolates by deprotonation and subsequent addition or alkylation reactions (Sections D.l.1.1.3.1. and D.l.5.2.3.), and with unsaturated acids as chiral dienes or dienophiles in Diels-Alder reactions (Section D. 1.6.1.1.1.), as chiral dipolarophiles in 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions (Section D.l.6.1.2.1.), as chiral partners in /(-lactam formation by [2 + 2] cycloaddition with chlorosulfonyl isocyanate (SectionD.l.6.1.3.), as sources for chiral alkenes in cyclopropanations (Section D.l.6.1.5.). and in the synthesis of chiral allenes (Section B.I.). Several esters have also been prepared by indirect techniques, e.g.,... 

The chiral alcohols are mainly employed as esters or enol ethers. Esters with carboxylic acids can be obtained by any convenient esterification technique. Dienol ethers were obtained by transetherification with the ethyl enol ether of a 1,3-diketone, followed by Wittig reaction8 silyldienol ethers were obtained by the method of Danishefsky11-12 and simple enol ethers by mercury-catalyzed transetherification13. Esters and enol ethers have been used as chiral dienophiles or dienes in diastereoselective Diels-Alder reactions (Section D. 1.6.1.1.1.1.). (R)-l-Phenylethanol [(R)-4] has been used for enantioselective protonation (Section C.) and the (S)-enantiomer as chiral leaving group in phenol ethers for the synthesis of binaphthols (Section B.2.) the phenol ethers are prepared as described for menthol in the preceding section. (S)-2-Octanol [(S)-2] has found applications in the synthesis of chiral allenes (Section B.I.). 

The sites of alkylation are the oxygen atoms of the hydroxyl, carbonyl, and carboxyl groups in lignin. Reactions a and b are selective with diazoalkanes (a) reacting under anhydrous conditions to alkylate, chiefly, the slightly acidic hydroxyl groups (98) of the phenolic, enolic(99-102), and carboxylic (103-107) units to form ethers. The diazoalkane reaction with carboxylic acids only occurs in solvents in which the acid is deprotonated to an enolate anion. The RN reactions are shown in Equation 2. 

Methylation. The reaction with diazomethane has often been used for differentiating the acidic groups (28, 35, 38, 45, 46, 69). Diazomethane reacts, in general, with carboxylic acids, forming methyl esters which are easily hydrolyzed by dilute hydrochloric acid. With phenols, ethers are formed which are stable to hydrolysis. Alcohols are methylated only if catalysts are present, e.g., BF, ZnClj (70), or HjO (71). As Garten et al. 

Preparation of alkoxydiacyloxymethanes by reaction of carboxylic acids with alkyl dichloromethyl ethers in the presence of tertiary amines [203]. 

Carboxylic acid anhydrides generally react with sulfur tetrafluoride in the same manner as carboxylic acids to give acid fluorides, then trifluoromethyl derivatives. Various cyclic anhydrides, which are particularly stable under acidic conditions, react without cleavage to give, in a stepwise fashion, difluoro lactones and a,a,a, a -tetrafluoro ethers. Conversely, the corresponding diacids are readily dehydrated by sulfur tetrafluoride to give anhydrides in the first step of the reaction. Therefore, in this section reactions of carboxylic acids and carboxylic acid anhydrides are discussed together. 

It is possible to prepare esters of phenols with carboxylic acid anhydrides or acid halides, and phenyl ethers by reaction of benzenolate anion with halides, sulfate esters, sulfonates, or other alkyl derivatives that react well by the SN2 mechanism ... 

In the first step amine 11 is coupled with carboxylic acid 15 to form an amide The method employed here for coupling an a-chiral carboxylic acid with an amine was developed in the context of peptide synthesis. Its success is based on DCC-mediated formation (see Chapter 5) of the reactive 1-hydroxy benzotriazole ester 55, which reacts with an amine to give the corresponding amide. In most cases reaction takes place without raccmi/ation, and often in the absence of side reactions that cause other procedures to The alcohol is converted into a silyl ether in the second step. 

Vinyl ethers undergo all of the expected reactions of olefinic compounds plus a number of other reactions. For example, vinyl ethers react with alcohols give acetals. The acetals are stable under neutral or alkaline conditions and are easily hydrolyzed with dilute acid after other desired reactions have occurred. Reaction of a vinyl ether with water gives acetaldehyde and the corresponding alcohol and reaction of vinyl ethers with carboxylic acids gives 1-alkoxyethyl esters and with thiols gives thioacetals. 

Diazomethane is a toxic, explosive yellow gas that dissolves in ether and is fairly safe to use in ether solutions. The reaction of diazomethane with carboxylic acids probably involves transfer of the acid proton, giving a methyldiazonium salt. This diazonium salt is an excellent methylating agent, with nitrogen gas as a leaving group. 

You ve already met the most important ones—sulfides, esters, carboxylates. Ethers and amines (you will see some of these shortly) can also assist substitution reactions through neighbouring group participation. The important thing that they have in common is an electron-rich heteroatom with a lone pair that can be used to form the cyclic intermediate. Sulfides are rather better than ethers—this sulfide reacts with water much faster than rc-PrCl but the ether reacts with acetic acid four times more slowly than rc-PrOSC Ar. 

O-tert-Butyl trichloroacetimidate, prepared in 70% yield by reacting potassium rerr-butoxide with trichloroacetonitrile, reacts with carboxylic acids and alcohols in the presence of a catalytic amount of boron trifluoride etherate at room temperature in cyclohexane-dichloromethane [Scheme 6.35], 7 The method also converts alcohols to ferr-butyl ethers (see section 4.3.2). A very similar reaction that allows /erf-butylation under essentially neutral conditions on a large scale involves reaction of a carboxylic acid with 3-4 equivalents of JV,N -di-isopropyl-Orerf-butylisourea88 [Scheme 6,36].56S9 The reaction proceeds via a tertiary carbocation ion intermediate and since capture of the cation is inefficient, excess isourea is required. The presence of alcohols is tolerated but not thiols or unhindered amines. The reaction conditions are compatible with a range of acid sensitive groups such as AMrityl derivatives and cydopentylidene acetals.90... 

The formation of symmetrical bis(l,l-difluoroalkyl) ethers is a general side reaction in the reaction of carboxylic acids (and acyl fluorides) with sulfur tetrafluoride. A reaction mechanism has been proposed to explain this observation.According to this mechanism, the... 

Much kinetic work has been done on the reaction of diphenyldiazo-methane with weak acids, HA (mainly carboxylic acids), in ethanol or toluene solutions [214, 216]. In these studies, catalysis by solvated protons is negligible in ethanol and non-existent in toluene. The reaction is first-order in diphenyldiazomethane and first-order in weak acid, HA. Reaction products in ethanol are benzhydryl ethyl ether (Ph2 CHOEt) and benzhydryl ester (Ph2 CHA). The only product in toluene is benzhydryl ester. The product ratio of the reaction in ethanol is insensitive to the addition of salts of the weak acid, and it is almost independent of the chemical nature of HA [216]. The solvent isotope effect in the reaction with benzoic acid in ethanol is (fenAktoH/ Da)eiod = 3.5. 

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