Halides from carboxylic acids with decarboxylation

Section 21 7 The malonic ester synthesis is related to the acetoacetic ester synthesis Alkyl halides (RX) are converted to carboxylic acids of the type RCH2COOH by reaction with the enolate ion derived from diethyl mal onate followed by saponification and decarboxylation... 

One-electron oxidation of carboxylate ions generates acyloxy radicals, which undergo decarboxylation. Such electron-transfer reactions can be effected by strong one-electron oxidants, such as Mn(HI), Ag(II), Ce(IV), and Pb(IV) These metal ions are also capable of oxidizing the radical intermediate, so the products are those expected from carbocations. The oxidative decarboxylation by Pb(IV) in the presence of halide salts leads to alkyl halides. For example, oxidation of pentanoic acid with lead tetraacetate in the presence of lithium chloride gives 1-chlorobutane in 71% yield ... 

A new decarboxylative route to free radicals, which has proved particularly successful in preparative work, embodies the thermal (or photochemical) decomposition reaction of 1-hy-droxypyridine-2(l/f)-thione esters 23 with tributyltin hydride, /er/-butanethiol, or a similar hydrogen donor.These esters can be easily prepared from acyl halides and the sodium salt of l-hydroxypyridine-2(l//)-thione, or from the carboxylic acid, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and l-hydroxypyridine-2(l/f)-thione. The intermediate radicals were readily reduced to the corresponding hydrocarbons 24 in efficient chain reactions with organotin hydrides or thiols as reaction partners, and the proportion of rearranged to unrearranged products could be controlled by the choice of hydrogen donor, its concentration and the temperature. This system was sufficiently quantitative and well behaved for use in kinetic studies, and the rate constants of the (S-scission reactions of the listed cyclopropylmethyl species were determined. 

The bisacylation of methylene-active compounds mentioned above can be avoided by using acylimidazoles in place of acyl halides (acylimidazoles are obtained from the carboxylic acid and sulfinyldiimidazole) for example, reaction of the magnesium enolate of ethyl hydrogen malonate and an acylimid-azole, with concomitant decarboxylation, gives the corresponding / -oxo ester 430... 

When this reaction is carried out on the parent diethyl malonate, acetic acid results, and the process is of no practical synthetic utility. As with the synthesis of ketones starting from P-keto esters, this process is far more usefiil when combined with the alkylation reaction. One or two alkylations of malonic ester give substituted diesters that can be hydrolyzed and decarboxylated to give carboxylic acids (Fig. 19.62). Substituted acetic acids are potential sources of esters, acid halides, and any other compound that can be made from a carboxylic acid. 

Alkyl halides are converted to carboxylic acids by reaction with the enolate derived from diethyl malonate, followed by saponification and decarboxylation. 

Kochi JK (1965b) Formation of alkyl halides from acids by decarboxylation with lead(IV) acetate and halide salts. J Org Chem 22A 3265-3271 Kosicki GW, Kipovac SN (1964) The pH and pD dependence of the spontaneous and magnesium-ion-catalyzed decarboxylation of oxalacetic acid. Can J Chem 42 403-415 Kraeutler B, Bard AJ (1978) Heterogeneous photocatalytic decomposition of saturated carboxylic acids on Ti02 powder. Decarboxylative route to alkanes. J Am Chem Soc 100 5985-5992... 

The decarboxylation reaction usually proceeds from the dissociated form of a carboxyl group. As a result, the primary reaction intermediate is more or less a carbanion-like species. In one case, the carbanion is stabilized by the adjacent carbonyl group to form an enolate intermediate as seen in the case of decarboxylation of malonic acid and tropic acid derivatives. In the other case, the anion is stabilized by the aid of the thiazolium ring of TPP. This is the case of transketolases. The formation of carbanion equivalents is essentially important in the synthetic chemistry no matter what methods one takes, i.e., enzymatic or ordinary chemical. They undergo C—C bond-forming reactions with carbonyl compounds as well as a number of reactions with electrophiles, such as protonation, Michael-type addition, substitution with pyrophosphate and halides and so on. In this context,... 

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