Halides, alkyl from sulfonate esters

This reaction is analogous to similar methods for the preparation of ethers (methods 113 and 116), Both simple and mixed sulfides may be made from aliphatic mercaptans or thiophenols. The sodium mercaptides are formed from the mercaptans and aqueous or alcoholic solutions of sodium hydroxide or alcoholic sodium ethoxide. Alkylation is effected by halides, alkyl sulfates, or esters of sulfonic acids. The over-all yields of sulfides are usually above 70%. r-Butyl mercaptan is alkylated directly by /-butyl alcohol in strong sulfuric acid to give /-butyl sulfide in 87% yield. ... 

Sulfonate esters are subject to the same limitations as alkyl halides Competition from elimination needs to be considered when planning a functional group transforma tion that requires an anionic nucleophile because tosylates undergo elimination reactions just as alkyl halides do... 

An advantage that sulfonate esters have over alkyl halides is that their prepara tion from alcohols does not involve any of the bonds to carbon The alcohol oxygen becomes the oxygen that connects the alkyl group to the sulfonyl group Thus the configuration of a sulfonate ester is exactly the same as that of the alcohol from which It was prepared If we wish to study the stereochemistry of nucleophilic substitution m an optically active substrate for example we know that a tosylate ester will have the same configuration and the same optical purity as the alcohol from which it was prepared... 

Sulfonate esters are especially useful substrates in nucleophilic substitution reactions used in synthesis. They have a high level of reactivity, and, unlike alkyl halides, they can be prepared from alcohols by reactions that do not directly involve bonds to the carbon atom imdeigoing substitution. The latter aspect is particularly important in cases in which the stereochemical and structural integrity of the reactant must be maintained. Sulfonate esters are usually prepared by reaction of an alcohol with a sulfonyl halide in the presence of pyridine ... 

Problem 13.17 How does sulfonate ester formation from suifonyl chloride resemble nucleophilic displacements of alkyl halides "d... 

Trialkylaluminums, 21 By geminal alkylation of carbonyl groups Dichlorodimethyltitanium, 216 From reduction of alkyl halides, alkyl sulfonates and similar compounds From acetates or other esters Triphenylsilane, 334 From alcohols... 

Sodium sulfhydride (NaSH) is a much better reagent for the formation of thiols (mercaptans) from alkyl halides than H2S and is used much more often. It is easily prepared by bubbling H2S into an alkaline solution, but hydrosulfide on a supported polymer resin has also been used. " The reaction is most useful for primary halides. Secondary substrates give much lower yields, and the reaction fails completely for tertiary halides because elimination predominates. Sulfuric and sulfonic esters can be used instead of halides. Thioethers (RSR) are often side products. The conversion can also be accomplished under neutral conditions by treatment of a primary halide with F and a tin sulfide, such as PhsSnSSnPhs. An indirect method for the preparation of a thiol is the reaction of an alkyl halide with thiourea to give an isothiuronium salt (119), and subsequent treatment with alkali or a... 

From a historical perspective, the a-(dialkylamino)nitrile anions were the first acyl anion equivalents to undergo systematic investigation. More recent studies indicate that anions of a-(dialkylamino)nitriles derived from aliphatic, aromatic or heteroaromatic aldehydes intercept an array of electrophiles including alkyl halides, alkyl sulfonates, epoxides, aldehydes, ketones, acyl chlorides, chloroformates, unsaturated ketones, unsaturated esters and unsaturated nitriles. Aminonitriles are readily prepared and their anions are formed with a variety of bases such as sodium methoxide, KOH in alcohol, NaH, LDA, PhLi, sodium amide, 70% NaOH and potassium amide. Regeneration of the carbonyl group can be achieved... 

A large number of cyclopropanes have been synthesized from cyclopropyl sulfones, cyclopropyl sulfoxides and cyclopropyl sulfides by taking advantage of the acidity of the cyclopropyl proton a to the C-S bond. Butyllithium is used almost exclusively as the base. The cyclopropyl anions obtained are capable of reacting with alkyl halides, aldehydes, enamines, epoxides, esters. 

The preparation of esters can be classified into two main categories (1) carboxylate activation with a good leaving group and (2) nucleophilic displacement of a carboxylate on an alkyl halide or sulfonate. For simple esters, acid-catalyzed esterification with azeotropic removal of water is also very effective, but limited to simple systems for the most part. The nucleophilic approach is generally not suitable for the preparation of esters if the halide or tosylate is sterically hindered, but there has been some success with simple secondary halides and tosylates (ROTs, DMF, K2CO3, 69-93% yield). The section on transesterification should also be consulted, since this technology can be quite useful for the preparation of esters from other esters. 

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