Lewis acids protic acid catalysts

A wide variety of catalysts have been used to increase the rate of the desired reaction pathway, among which are Lewis acids, protic acids, phenols and pyridine M-oxides. Due to the different characteristics and products of the different catalysts, the examples will be grouped according to the catalyst used. 

While it can be questioned how green ILs are, they are certainly useful chemically. They have numerous uses as Lewis or protic acid catalysts, for example aluminium chloride in [emim][Cl] is a superior catalyst for the Friedel-Crafts acylation of indoles bearing electron-withdrawing groups and of azaindoles. ... 

Hydrostannation of carbonyl compounds with tributyltin hydride is promoted by radical initiation and Lewis or protic acid catalysis.The activation of the carbonyl group by the acidic species allows the weakly nucleophilic tin hydride to react via a polar mechanism. Silica gel was a suitable catalyst allowing chemoselective reduction of carbonyl groups under conditions that left many functional groups unchanged. Tributyltin triflate generated in situ from the tin hydride and triflic acid was a particularly efficient catalyst for the reduction of aldehydes and ketones with tributyltin hydride in benzene or 1,2-di-chloromethane at room temperature. Esters and ketals were not affected under these conditions and certain aldehydes were reduced selectively in preference to ketones. 

The Friedel-Crafts reaction includes both alkylation and acylation although here only acylation is exemplified. For the Friedel-Crafts acylation, the electrophile could be either an acid chloride or an anhydride. The catalyst could be either a Lewis or protic acid. 

The a j3 ratio is suspiciously dependent upon the solvent, coordination may be playing a part here too, and there is a further complication in both series. For nucleophilic attack on a carbonyl to take place, coordination to the oxygen atom by a Lewis or protic acid is often necessary, as we have already seen with n, T-unsaturatcd ketones. This means that there is a pre-equilibrium step between the bare carbonyl compound, used in the calculations, and the reactive species. There will be a higher concentration of the intermediate with the metal or other catalyst coordinated to the more basic of the two carbonyl groups, which will be the (3 carbonyl in 4.171. However, when the coordination is to the less basic carbonyl group, it will create a more reactive species. The balance of all these effects is hard to predict, and the overall story is too complicated for simple analysis. This is not an uncommon situation, and care must be taken in any analysis of subtle steric and electronic effects like those operating here and in much of the discussion about enones above. 

Since the rate enhancement of MBH reaction in protic solvents or by use of LBBA bifunctional catalysts and Lewis acids as co-catalysts is attributed to the involvement of hydrogen bonding, it seemed that imidazolium-based ionic liquids would be a good choice of solvent for the MBH reaction because the acidic proton at C(2) is known to act as a donor to hydrogen bond acceptors. ... 

This acylation method is advantageous in terms of the mild conditions employed and the easy availability of acyl chlorides. While in the benzoylation of benzene with benzoyl chloride in the presence of hafnium triflate (5% mol) or triflic acid (5% mol) only 5-10% yields in benzophenone are obtained, with a combination of Lewis and protic acids (5% mol hafnium triflate and 5% mol triflic acid) benzophenone is isolated in 77% yield [18]. The yield is improved to 82% when hafnium triflate and triflic acid are used in higher quantities (10% mol each) a further increase of the catalyst amount does not improve the yield. Aromatic substrates such as benzene, toluene, chlorobenzene, and fluorobenzene react smoothly under these conditions with both aliphatic and aromatic acid chlorides, affording the corresponding / ara-arylketones 10 in 60-83% yield and 15 85-1 99 isomer distribution (Scheme 3.5). 

In a Lewis-acid catalysed Diels-Alder reaction, the first step is coordination of the catalyst to a Lewis-basic site of the reactant. In a typical catalysed Diels-Alder reaction, the carbonyl oxygen of the dienophile coordinates to the Lewis acid. The most common solvents for these processes are inert apolar liquids such as dichloromethane or benzene. Protic solvents, and water in particular, are avoided because of their strong interactions wifti the catalyst and the reacting system. Interestingly, for other catalysed reactions such as hydroformylations the same solvents do not give problems. This paradox is a result of the difference in hardness of the reactants and the catalyst involved... 

The inactivity of pure anhydrous Lewis acid haUdes in Friedel-Crafts polymerisation of olefins was first demonstrated in 1936 (203) it was found that pure, dry aluminum chloride does not react with ethylene. Subsequentiy it was shown (204) that boron ttifluoride alone does not catalyse the polymerisation of isobutylene when kept absolutely dry in a vacuum system. However, polymers form upon admission of traces of water. The active catalyst is boron ttifluoride hydrate, BF H20, ie, a conjugate protic acid H" (BF20H) . 

Cationic polymerization of coal-tar fractions has been commercially achieved through the use of strong protic acids, as well as various Lewis acids. Sulfuric acid was the first polymerization catalyst (11). More recent technology has focused on the Friedel-Crafts polymerization of coal fractions to yield resins with higher softening points and better color. Typical Lewis acid catalysts used in these processes are aluminum chloride, boron trifluoride, and various boron trifluoride complexes (12). Cmde feedstocks typically contain 25—75% reactive components and may be refined prior to polymerization (eg, acid or alkali treatment) to remove sulfur and other undesired components. Table 1 illustrates the typical components found in coal-tar fractions and their corresponding properties. 

Acetalation. As polyhydroxy compounds, carbohydrates react with aldehydes and ketones to form cycHc acetals (1,13). Examples are the reaction of D-glucose with acetone and a protic or Lewis acid catalyst to form l,2 5,6-di-0-isoprop5lidene-a-D-glucofuranose [582-52-5] and its reaction with benzaldehyde to form 4,6-0-benzyhdene-D-glucopyranose [25152-90-3]. The 4,6-0-(l-carboxyethyhdine) group (related to pymvic acid) occurs naturally in some polysaccharides. 

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. 

Metal halides like zinc chloride are used as Lewis-acid catalysts. Other Lewis-acids or protic acids, as well as transition metals, have found application also. The major function of the catalyst seems to be the acceleration of the second step—the formation of the new carbon-carbon bond. 

As catalysts Lewis acids such as AICI3, TiCU, SbFs, BF3, ZnCh or FeCl3 are used. Protic acids such as FI2SO4 or FIF are also used, especially for reaction with alkenes or alcohols. Recent developments include the use of acidic polymer resins, e.g. Nafion-Fl, as catalysts for Friedel-Crafts alkylations and the use of asymmetric catalysts. ... 

Step-growth polymerization processes must be carefully designed in order to avoid reaction conditions that promote deleterious side reactions that may result in the loss of monomer functionality or the volatilization of monomers. For example, initial transesterification between DMT and EG is conducted in the presence of Lewis acid catalysts at temperatures (200°C) that do not result in the premature volatilization of EG (neat EG boiling point 197°C). In addition, polyurethane formation requires the absence of protic impurities such as water to avoid the premature formation of carbamic acids followed by decarboxylation and formation of the reactive amine.50 Thus, reaction conditions must be carefully chosen to avoid undesirable consumption of the functional groups, and 1 1 stoichiometry must be maintained throughout the polymerization process. 

Apart from the alkyl halide-Lewis acid combination, two other sources of carbo-cations are often used in Friedel-Crafts reactions. Alcohols can serve as carbocation precursors in strong acids such as sulfuric or phosphoric acid. Alkylation can also be effected by alcohols in combination with BF3 or A1C13.37 Alkenes can serve as alkylating agents when a protic acid, especially H2S04, H3P04, and HF, or a Lewis acid, such as BF3 and A1C13, is used as a catalyst.38... 

Isopropylidene acetals are convenient protecting groups in carbohydrate chemistry, particularly for the protection of 1,2- and 1,3-diols, and are readily formed by reaction of the diol with acetone or 2,2-dimethoxypropane under acidic conditions. Several protic and Lewis acids have been reported as catalysts for this purpose.98... 

Selective removal of one isopropylidene group from a diacetal may be achieved by a variety of procedures, most of them involving protic or Lewis acids.100 Particularly common is the hydrolysis of the acetal engaging of the primary position of di-O-isopropylidene derivatives. Bhaskar et al,101 studied the selective deprotection of di-O-isopropylidene acetals derived from D-glucose, D-xylose, and D-mannose, using acid zeolites and montmorillonite K-10. When 102 was submitted to acid hydrolysis in aqueous methanol, the best yields (85—96%) for the monoacetal 105 were obtained when H-beta and HZSM-5 zeolites were employed as catalysts (Scheme 24, Table IV). HY zeolite proved to be ineffective, whereas the yield obtained for the montmorillonite K-10-catalyzed reaction was low (22%). The zeolites found most effective were then used for the hydrolysis of the diacetal 103 and 104, providing excellent yields for the desired corresponding monoacetals 106 and 107. 

We have recently shown that metal-exchanged zeolites give rise to carbocationic reactions, through the interactions with alkylhalides (metal cation acts as Lewis acid sites, coordinating with the alkylhalide to form a metal-halide species and an alkyl-aluminumsilyl oxonium ion bonded to the zeolite structure, which acts as an adsorbed carbocation (scheme 2). We were able to show that they can catalyze Friedel-Crafts reactions (9) and isobutane/2-butene alkylation (70), with a superior performance than a protic zeolite catalyst. 

A variety of both protic and Lewis acids have been used to effect Fischer cyclizations. Hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid in aqueous, alcohol or acetic acid solution are frequently used. Polyphosphoric acid and BF3 in acetic acid have also been employed[10]. Zinc chloride is the most frequently used of the common Lewis acids. This choice is supported by comparative studies with FeCI3, AICI3, CoCI2 and NiCl2, which found ZnCl2 to be the most effective catalyst[l 1]. Zinc chloride can be used either as a solid mixture with the hydrazone reactant or in ethanol or acetic acid solution[12]. 

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