Lewis acid catalyzed reactions, water solvent

The nse of water as a solvent in organic synthesis will play key roles in green chemistry. Despite the importance of Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions in laboratories as well as in industry, however, such reactions have not been carried ont in aqueons media, becanse Lewis acids were believed to hydrolyze rapidly in the presence of water. Contrary to this belief, we fonnd that rare earth and... 

Micellar media are formed from tensioactive molecules in aqueous solution. Mi-cellization is a manifestation of the strong self-association of water and water-like solvents [95]. Micelles are known to increase the solubilization of weakly polar substances in water and, as a consequence, their presence determines the magnitude of hydrophobic interactions. Micelles aggregate spontaneously in aqueous solution beyond a critical concentration which is a function of pressure [96]. As a result, pressure may induce an extra kinetic effect on the rate of organic reactions carried out in aqueous micellar systems. Representative ionic micelles are sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB). Recent examples demonstrate the beneficial effect of the presence of surfactants in Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions, a kind of biactivation [97]. 

Another question people may ask is what kind of reactions can be carried out in water To put it simply, we know that most major reaction types that have historically been carried out in anhydrous organic solvent in organic chemistry, have their counterparts in water. Among these reactions types, the more notable ones are pericyclic reactions, organometallic reactions, transition metal catalyzedreactions,and lewis acid catalyzed reactions. 

Iron is also considered as a water-insensitive metal. However, reports on the catalytic behavior of iron triflate are contradictory. Bonnamour reported that iron triflate is an efficient catalyst for the typical Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions, but is inactive for the reactions carried in water, as solvent [62]. On the other side, Choi et al. indicated that iron triflate, in situ... 

While the Lewis acid-catalyzed aldol reactions in aqueous solvents described above are catalyzed smoothly by several metal salts, a certain amount of an organic solvent such as THF had still to be combined with water to promote the reactions efficiently. This requirement is probably because most substrates are not soluble in water. To avoid the use of the organic solvents, we have developed a new reaction system in which metal triflates catalyze aldol reactions in water with the aid of a small amount of a surfactant, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). 

The catalytic asymmetric aldol reaction has been applied to the LASC system, which uses copper bis(-dodecyl sulfate) (4b) instead of CufOTf. 1261 An example is shown in Eq. 6. In this case, a Bronsted add, such as lauric add, is necessary to obtain a good yield and enantioseledivity. This example is the first one involving Lewis acid-catalyzed asymmetric aldol reactions in water without using organic solvents. Although the yield and the selectivity are still not yet optimized, it should be noted that this appredable enantioselectivity has been attained at ambient temperature in water. 

Lewis acids are quite often used as catalysts in organic synthesis. Although most Lewis acids decompose in water, it was found that rare earth triflates such as Sc(OTf)3, Yb(OTf)3, etc. can be used as Lewis acid catalysts in water or water-containing solvents (water-compatible Lewis acids) [6-9]. For example, the Mukaiyama aldol reactions of aldehydes with silyl enol ethers were catalyzed by Yb(OTf)3 in water-THF (1 4) to give the corresponding aldol adducts in high yields [10, 11]. Interestingly, when the reactions were carried out in dry THF (without water), the yield of the aldol adducts was very low (ca. 10%). Thus, this catalyst is not only compatible with water but also is activated by water, probably due to dissociation of the counteranions from the Lewis acidic metal. Furthermore, the catalyst can be easily recovered and reused. 

Lewis acid-catalyzed asymmetric aldol reactions of silyl enol ethers with aldehydes are among the most powerful carbon-carbon bond-forming methods aprotic anhydrous solvents and low reaction temperatures are, however, usually needed for successful reaction. To perform the catalytic asymmetric aldol reaction in aqueous media a chiral crown ether-Pb(OTf)2 complex was employed as a chiral catalyst stable in water-ethanol [9]. Good to high yields and high levels of diastereo-and enantioselectivity were obtained at 0°C in aqueous media (Scheme 13.64). 

There is always a certain amount of ring-chlorinated by-product formed in the nitrations. Reactions carried out either by using an excess of aromatics as solvent (TiCU is miscible with many aromatics) or in carbon tetrachloride solution, always contain chlorinated by-products. The amount of chlorinated by-products can be decreased by using solvents with higher dielectric constants. Tetramethyiene sulfone (sulfolane) was found to be a suitable solvent for the TiCL and also for most of the other Lewis-acid-catalyzed nitrations. It has excellent solvent properties for aromatics and the catalysts as well as for nitryl halides. It is superior to other solvents that can be used, such as nitromethane. As it is completely miscible with water, the work-up of the reaction mixtures after the reactions are completed is very easy. 

In general, Lewis acid-catalyzed addition reactions ofimines require highly sophisticated reaction systems because basicity of the starting imine and the product (amine) may lead to deactivation of the Lewis acid even in organic solvents, needless to say in water. It is noted that this study has addressed this issue for the first time in water. 

Thus, the reaction in aqueous Cu(N03)2 solution proceeded about 800 times faster than in water alone and 250000 times faster than in acetonitrile. This Lewis-acid-catalyzed aqueous Diels-Alder reaction presumably occurs via a transition state such as 2.50 with bidentate complexation to the metal as shown. In a related study, Kobayashi reported that scandium triflate can be used as a water-tolerant Lewis-acid catalyst for a Diels-Alder reaction in (9 1) tetrahydrofuran-water (THF-H2O) [30], though this mixed solvent system cannot take advantage of the hydrophobic effect observed in pure water or highly aqueous mixtures. 

The nature of the solvent is very important in the reactions requiring the participation of Lewis acid catalysts. To date, most of these reactions were carried out in organic solvents but many acid-catalyzed reactions, such as Friedel-Crafts, require at least the presence of traces of water [8]. However, even these reactions must be carried out under strict anhydrous conditions. On the other side, the replacement of volatile harmful organic solvents with water... 

The Curtius rearrangement can be catalyzed by Lewis acids or protic acids, but good yields are often obtained also without a catalyst. From reaction in an inert solvent (e.g. benzene, chloroform) in the absence of water, the isocyanate can be isolated, while in aqueous solution the amine is formed. Highly reactive acyl azides may suffer loss of nitrogen and rearrange already during preparation in aqueous solution. The isocyanate then cannot be isolated because it immediately reacts with water to yield the corresponding amine. 

Lewis-acid catalysis of Diels-Alder reactions involving bidentate dienophiles in water is possible also if the beneficial effect of water on the catalyzed reaction is reduced relative to pure water. There are no additional effects on endo-exo selectivity. As expected, catalysis by Cu ions is much more efficient than specific-acid catalysis.Using a-amino acids as chiral ligands, Lewis-acid enan-tioselectivity is enhanced in water compared to organic solvents. Micelles, in the absence of Lewis acids, are poor catalysts, but combining Lewis-acid catalysis and micellar catalysis leads to a rate accelaration that is enzyme-like. 

Abstract Several bismuth-catalyzed synthetic reactions, which proceed well in aqueous media, are discussed. Due to increasing demand of water as a solvent in organic synthesis, catalysts that can be used in aqueous media are becoming more and more important. Although bismuth Lewis acids are not very stable in water, it has been revealed that they can be stabilized by basic ligands. Chiral amine and related basic ligands combined with bismuth Lewis acids are particularly useful in asymmetric catalysis in aqueous media. On the other hand, bismuth hydroxide is stable and works as an efficient catalyst for carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions in water. 

The lanthanide triflate remains in the aqueous phase and can be re-used after concentration. From a green chemistry viewpoint it would be more attractive to perform the reactions in water as the only solvent. This was achieved by adding the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS 20 mol%) to the aqueous solution of e.g. Sc(OTf)3 (10 mol%) [145]. A further extension of this concept resulted in the development of lanthanide salts of dodecyl sulfate, so-called Lewis acid-surfactant combined catalysts (LASC) which combine the Lewis acidity of the cation with the surfactant properties of the anion [148]. These LASCs, e.g. Sc(DS)3, exhibited much higher activities in water than in organic solvents. They were shown to catalyze a variety of reactions, such as Michael additions and a three component a-aminophosphonate synthesis (see Fig. 2.44) in water [145]. 

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