Furyl carbinols, synthesis

The oxidative ring expansion of furyl carbinols can be accomplished with many of the same oxidants discussed earlier for routine oxidation of the furan ring. As a pyran is formed in the reaction, an obvious application would be for the synthesis of pyranose sugars (Scheme 19). 

Synonyms include Furyl Carbinol, 2-Hydroxy Methyl Furan, 2-Furan Methanol, Furfuryl alcohol resin. Furan resin, FA resin, Poly(furfuryl alcohol). Prepolymers of FA. It is a raw material for organic synthesis, producing levulic acid, resin of various furane kinds in different properties, furfuryl alcohol urea formal resin and phenolic resin. It is a fine solvent for furane resin and oil varnish and pigment as well as used in rocket fuel. It is also used in the production of synthetic fibers, rubber, agricultural chemicals and foundry products. Furfuryl alcohol resins are derivatives of agricultural waste products and complex polymers that are formed in a condensation reaction that occurs when the furfuryl alcohol is acidified. The resins have low viscosity with an odor of furfuryl alcohol. The resin systems are highly reactive and can be catalyzed using a variety of active and latent acidic catalysts. When thermoset, the resins produce polymers that are heat resistant and extremely corrosion resistant to acids, bases and solvents. 

Surprisingly, the introduction of the pyridine ring not only influences the velocity of the enzymatic transformations, but also induces promising stereochemical effects (Table 1). For instance, at 40% conversion (R)-phenylethanol is obtained from the pyridyl acetate 25 with 73 % ee, whereas the value for the corresponding phenylacetate is only 28%. Also, the secondary alcohol liberated from the ester 26 displays 98% ee at 40% conversion, whereas the respective phenylacetate leads to 1-phenylpropanol with 94% ee but at a conversion rate of 12% only [19,20]. These results demonstrate that the stereoselecting properties of penicillin acylase may be enhanced by appropriate engineering of the substrate. This is of particular interest since this enzyme has already been used for the kinetic resolution of various chiral alcohols [21-24], e.g. furyl alkyl carbinols [24], which are valuable precursors for the de novo synthesis, with moderate to high ee values, of carbohydrates. 

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