Ethynylation, acetylene

Ethyl vinyl ether, 1 254, 258 derivation from ethanol, 10 557 physical properties of, l 255t Ethynylation, acetylene, 1 181, 231-249 Etretinate, 25 790 Etridiazole, 23 629... 

It should be stressed that in case of the ethynyl-acetylene reaction, a molecular hydrogen loss channel synthesizing the 1,3-butadienyl radical is open as well. Since the reactions of cyano and ethynyl radicals have no entrance barrier, are exoergic, and aU transition states involved are lower than the energy of the separated reactants, these reaction classes are extremely important to form nitriles and complex unsaturated hydrocarbons in low-temperature environments. On the other hand, the corresponding phenyl radical reactions are—due to the presence of an entrance barrier—closed in those environments. However, the elevated temperature in combustion systems helps to overcome these barriers, thus making phenyl radical reactions important pathways to form aromatic molecules in combustion flames. 

CONDENSATIONS WITH SODAMIDE IN LIQUID AMMONIA Acetylenic compounds are conveniently prepared with the aid of Uquid ammcx as a solvent. The preparation of a simple acetylenic hydrocarbon ( -butylacetylene or 1-hexyne) and also of phenylacetylene is described. Experimental details are also given for two acetylenic carbinols, viz., 1-ethynyl-eyciohoxanul and 4-pentyn-l-ol. It will be noted that the scale is somewhat laige smaller quantities can readily be prepared by obvious modifications of the directions. 

The name ethynylation was coined by Reppe to describe the addition of acetylene to carbonyl compounds (8). 

Although stoichiometric ethynylation of carbonyl compounds with metal acetyUdes was known as early as 1899 (9), Reppe s contribution was the development of catalytic ethynylation. Heavy metal acetyUdes, particularly cuprous acetyUde, were found to cataly2e the addition of acetylene to aldehydes. Although ethynylation of many aldehydes has been described (10), only formaldehyde has been catalyticaHy ethynylated on a commercial scale. Copper acetjlide is not effective as catalyst for ethynylation of ketones. For these, and for higher aldehydes, alkaline promoters have been used. 

Butynediol. Butynediol, 2-butyne-l,4-diol, [110-65-6] was first synthesized in 1906 by reaction of acetylene bis(magnesium bromide) with paraformaldehyde (43). It is available commercially as a crystalline soHd or a 35% aqueous solution manufactured by ethynylation of formaldehyde. Physical properties are Hsted in Table 2. 

Secondary acetylenic alcohols are prepared by ethynylation of aldehydes higher than formaldehyde. Although copper acetyUde complexes will cataly2e this reaction, the rates are slow and the equiUbria unfavorable. The commercial products are prepared with alkaline catalysts, usually used in stoichiometric amounts. 

Methylbutynol. 2-Methyl-3-butyn-2-ol [115-19-5] prepared by ethynylation of acetone, is the simplest of the tertiary ethynols, and serves as a prototype to illustrate their versatile reactions. There are three reactive sites, ie, hydroxyl group, triple bond, and acetylenic hydrogen. Although the triple bonds and acetylenic hydrogens behave similarly in methylbutynol and in propargyl alcohol, the reactivity of the hydroxyl groups is very different. 

Unlike ethynylation, in which acetylene adds across a carbonyl group and the triple bond is retained, in vinylation a labile hydrogen compound adds to acetylene, forming a double bond. 

Ethynylation. Base-catalyzed addition of acetylene to carbonyl compounds to form -yn-ols and -yn-glycols (see Acetylene-DERIVED chemicals) is a general and versatile reaction for the production of many commercially useful products. Finely divided KOH can be used in organic solvents or Hquid ammonia. The latter system is widely used for the production of pharmaceuticals and perfumes. The primary commercial appHcation of ethynylation is in the production of 2-butyne-l,4-diol from acetylene and formaldehyde using supported copper acetyHde as catalyst in an aqueous Hquid-fiHed system. 

Stabilized lithium acetyhde is not pyrophoric or shock-sensitive as are the transition-metal acetyhdes. Among its uses are ethynylation of halogenated hydrocarbons to give long-chain acetylenes (132) and ethynylation of ketosteroids and other ketones in the pharmaceutical field to yield the respective ethynyl alcohols (133) (see Acetylene-derived chemicals). 

Lithium acetyhde also can be prepared directly in hquid ammonia from lithium metal or lithium amide and acetylene (134). In this form, the compound has been used in the preparation of -carotene and vitamin A (135), ethchlorvynol (136), and (7j--3-hexen-l-ol (leaf alcohol) (137). More recent synthetic processes involve preparing the lithium acetyhde in situ. Thus lithium diisopropylamide, prepared from //-butyUithium and the amine in THF at 0°C, is added to an acetylene-saturated solution of a ketosteroid to directly produce an ethynylated steroid (138). 

Diol Components. Ethylene glycol (ethane 1,2-diol) is made from ethylene by direct air oxidation to ethylene oxide and ring opening with water to give 1,2-diol (40) (see Glycols). Butane-1,4-diol is stiU made by the Reppe process acetylene reacts with formaldehyde in the presence of catalyst to give 2-butyne-l,4-diol which is hydrogenated to butanediol (see Acetylene-DERIVED chemicals). The ethynylation step depends on a special cuprous... 

Dj Ethynylation Reaction of acetylene with formaldehyde over a CaCf-supported catalyst. 

The partial hydrogenation of a 17-ethynyl group over deactivated palladium occurs more readily than the saturation of any other functional group. This is also true of 17-ethynyl carbinols and 17-acetylenic ethers (52). ... 

The interaction of (10) with vinylmagnesiiim chloride yields, after hydrolysis of the ketal group, 46% of the 3a-vinyl-l7-ketone (11b) and 7% of the 3j5-vinyl-17-ketone (12b). Ethynylation of (10) with potassium acetylide in dimethylformamide or with acetylene and potassium t-amyloxide in t-amyl alcohol-ether gives only the 3a-ethynyl derivative (11c) in 63% and 74% yields, respectively. ... 

Stavely prepared the 17a-ethynyl derivative (55) in 80% yield by reacting acetylene and (54) in the presence of potassium / -amyloxide in ether at room temperature. Sondheimer subsequently showed that a by-product obtained in 3 % yield is di-(3) ,17) -dihydroxyandrost-5-en-17a-yl)-acetylene (57). 

The 17a-ethynyl compound (59) has been prepared in 88% yield from estr-4-ene-3,17-dione (58) and acetylene, at 2-3 atm pressure in tetrahydro-furan in the presence of potassium t-butoxide. Presumably the A-ring enone system is protected as the enolate anion during the course of the reaction. 

The direct reaction of androsta-l,4-diene-3,17-dione with acetylene in the presence of potassium t-amyloxide gives the 17a-ethynyl-17j -hydroxyandros-ta-l,4-dien-3-one in only 12% yield. 

Ethynylation of the totally synthetic racemic 18-methyl-17-ketone (63) with acetylene and potassium t-butoxide in t-butanol-toluene or with alkali metal acetylide in liquid ammonia gives a low yield of rac-18-methyl-17a-ethynyl-3-methoxyestra-l,3,5(10)-trien-17/ -ol (64). 

An ethynylation reagent obtained by decomposition of lithium aluminum hydride in ethers saturated with acetylene gives a satisfactory yield of (64), Best results are obtained with the lithium acetylide-ethylene diamine complex in dioxane-ethylenediamine-dimethylacetamide. Ethynylation of (63) with lithium acetylide in pure ethylenediamine gives (64) in 95% yield. 

The 13-ethyl-17-ketones, i.e., (63), have been found to be considerably less reactive than their 13-methyl counterparts towards acetylenic nucleophiles. The difference is attributed to the additional steric hindrance provided by the ethyl group. An attempt to introduce an ethynyl group into mc- 2>-isopropyl-3-methoxygona-l,3,5(10)-trien-17-one was unsuccessful even in ethylenediamine at 50°. However ethynylation of rac-13-isopropyl-3-methoxygona-1,3,5(10),8(14)-tetraen-17-one proceeded smoothly at room temperature to afford the 17a-ethynyl compound in 60% yield. ... 

Acetylene is passed for 1 hr through a mixture consisting of 0.5 g (72 mg-atoms) of lithium in 100 ml of ethylene-diamine. A solution prepared from 1 g (3.5 mmoles) of rac-3-methoxy-18-methylestra-l,3,5(10)-trien-I7-one and 30 ml of tetrahydrofuran is then added at room temperature with stirring over a period of 30 min. After an additional 2 hr during which time acetylene is passed through the solution the mixture is neutralized with 5 g of ammonium chloride, diluted with 50 ml water, and extracted with ether. The ether extracts are washed successively with 10% sulfuric acid, saturated sodium hydrogen carbonate and water. The extract is dried over sodium sulfate and concentrated to yield a solid crystalline material, which on recrystallization from methanol affords 0.95 g (87%) of rac-3-methoxy-18-methyl-17a-ethynyl-estra-l,3,5(10)-trien-17jB-ol as colorless needles mp 161°. 

Since 17a-ethynyl-17 -hydroxy steroids are so readily prepared, they represent attractive starting materials for conversion to 20-ketopregnanes. Standard methods for the hydration of aliphatic acetylenes (e.g, mercuric salts alone, with aniline, or with BF3) give variable results, and sometimes no product at all, due to D-homo rearrangement. 233,235,265-7 mercury... 

Disubstituted isotellurazoles 1 (4-11%) and bis((3-acylvinyl)tellurides 3 (3-10%) were isolated in very low yields from the reaction mixture as the products of nucleophilic addition of telluride anion to the triple bond of the initial ethynyl ketones (83S824). This method cannot be applied to the synthesis of 3//-isotellurazoles. When a-acetylenic aldehydes were used instead of ethynyl ketones, bis((3-cyanovinyl)tellurides 4 obtained in 14-20% yields were the only products (83S824). 

Diazopropyne reacts similarly with a monosubstituted acetylene to form 3(5)-alkynylpyrazoles (68LA113). Thus, the reaction of diazopropyne with acetylene-carboxylic acid methyl ether results in 5-ethynyl-l//-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid methyl ether in 48 h in 62% yield. 5-Ethynyl-l//-pyrazole-3,4-dicarboxylic acid dimethyl ester was prepared by reaction of diazopropyne with acetylenedicar-boxylic acid methyl ether (Scheme 10). 

The Favorsky reaction should be considered a general method for producing pyrazolyl-Q -acetylenic alcohols because even the less reactive 4-ethynyl-l,3,5-trimethylpyrazole, additionally deactivated by three donor methyl groups, reacts with acetone (Scheme 61). 

The condensation of 4-ethynyl-1,3-dimethyl-5-aminomethylpyrazole with iodo-benzene in the standard conditions of the Heck-Sonogashira reaction caused no complications and the yield of disubstituted acetylene was 87% (86TH1) (Scheme 68). 

By the chlorination of 3-ethynyl-, 4-ethynyl-, and 5-ethynyl-l-methylpyrazole with KOCl the corresponding compounds were synthesized in 98%, 100%, and 94% yields. The typical procedure is as follows To an aqueous solution of KOX (0.64 N) in 12.5% KOH, prepared from the corresponding halogen and potassium hydroxide in water at 5-10°C, was added the terminal acetylene, followed by stirring at room temperature until the complete disappearance of the starting material. 

The comparatively high acidity of terminal acetylenes allows the alkylation (without isolation of an intermediate acetylide) of even the less active ethynyl... 

Trimethylsilylethynylpyrazole was deprotected by treatment with tetrabutyl-ammonium fluoride (TBAF) to give monosubstituted acetylene in 90% yield. (96ADD193). The same conditions were used to cleave the trimethylsilyl group in l-tetrahydropyranyl-3-carboxyethyl-4-[2-(trimethylsilyl)ethynyl]pyrazole (96INP 9640704). 

Terminal acetylenes can be obtained from the corresponding propylcarboxylic acids by thermal decomposition. Thus, l-methyl-3-ethynyl- and 2-methyl-3-ethynylindazole were obtained by thermolysis of indazolylpropiolic acids at 150-160°C. Yields of ethynyl derivatives were 65 and 60%, respectively (75KGS1678) (Scheme 100 Table XXIII). 

The thermodynamic CH acidity of terminal acetylenes in the series of A-alkylpyrazoles was studied (83IZV466). These equilibrium CH acidity measurements were performed in DMSO by the method of remetallation (75ZOB1529). It reveals some regularities concerning the influence of the ring structure, the nature of other substituents, and the position of the ethynyl group on the acidity of ethynyl pyr azoles. 

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