Methylation, general methods phenol

Reaction with alcohols is general for diazo compounds, but it is most often performed with diazomethane to produce methyl ethers or with diazo ketones to produce ot-keto ethers, since these kinds of diazo compounds are most readily available. With diazomethane the method is expensive and requires great caution. It is used chiefly to methylate alcohols and phenols that are expensive or available in small amounts, since the conditions are mild and high yields are obtained. Hydroxy compounds react better as their acidity increases ordinary alcohols do not react at... 

Alkylation of phenols, alcohols, amides, and acids. N-Alkylation of indoles and pyrroles by means of solid KOH in DMSO was reported a few years ago. Actually this method is applicable to a number of substrates. The substrate and alkyl halide are added to powdered KOH and stirred in DMSO, usually at 20°. Methyl-ation of phenols, alcohols, and amides occurs in high yield in about 5-30 minutes. Esterification of acids is slower. Dehydrohalogenation is a competing or predominating reaction when secondary or tertiary halides are used. Another limitation is that amino groups are converted into quaternary salts under these conditions. The general method can be used for permethylation of peptides. 

It is obtained as a product of wood distillation, being present in wood creosote as a di-methyl ether. It may be prepared by the general methods of synthesizing phenols. Its most interesting synthesis is by the oxidation of phenol by fusion with sodium hydroxide, but not with potassium hydroxide. It is a white crystalline compound, m.p. 132 , easily soluble in water. It is readily oxidized especially when in alkaline solution. The chief uses of it are due to this strong reducing property. 

The Williamson reaction, discovered in 1850, is still the best general method for the preparation of unsymmetrical or symmetrical ethers.The reaction can also be carried out with aromatic R, although C-alkylation is sometimes a side reaction (see p. 515). The normal method involves treatment of the halide with alkoxide or aroxide ion prepared from an alcohol or phenol, although methylation using dimethyl carbonate has been reported. It is also possible to mix the halide and alcohol or phenol directly with CS2CO3 in acetonitrile, or with solid KOH in Me2SO. The reaction can also be carried out in a dry medium,on zeolite-or neat or in solvents using microwave irradiation. Williamson ether synthesis in ionic liquids has also been reported. The reaction is not successful for tertiary R (because of elimination), and low yields are often obtained with secondary R. Mono-ethers can be formed from diols and alkyl halides. Many other... 

This procedure is characterized by the easy isolation of a high-purity product in excellent yield. The reaction illustrates a general method for the conversion of aryl methyl ethers to the corresponding phenols, and has proved to be of special advantage with acid-sensitive substrates. - ... 

In the case of low temperature tar, the aqueous Hquor that accompanies the cmde tar contains between 1 and 1.5% by weight of soluble tar acids, eg, phenol, cresols, and dihydroxybenzenes. Both for the sake of economics and effluent purification, it is necessary to recover these, usually by the Lurgi Phenosolvan process based on the selective extraction of the tar acids with butyl or isobutyl acetate. The recovered phenols are separated by fractional distillation into monohydroxybenzenes, mainly phenol and cresols, and dihydroxybenzenes, mainly (9-dihydroxybenzene (catechol), methyl (9-dihydtoxybenzene, (methyl catechol), and y -dihydroxybenzene (resorcinol). The monohydric phenol fraction is added to the cmde tar acids extracted from the tar for further refining, whereas the dihydric phenol fraction is incorporated in wood-preservation creosote or sold to adhesive manufacturers. Naphthalene Oils. Naphthalene is the principal component of coke-oven tats and the only component that can be concentrated to a reasonably high content on primary distillation. Naphthalene oils from coke-oven tars distilled in a modem pipe stiU generally contain 60—65% of naphthalene. They are further upgraded by a number of methods. 

The oldest cresol production method used in the United States is through the recovery of fractional distillates from coal tars. Most domestic cresols are formed via catalytic and thermal cracking of naphtha fractions during petroleum distillation. Since 1965, quantities of coal tar and petroleum isolates have been insufficient to meet the rising demand. Consequently, several processes for the manufacture of the various isomers have been developed. One General Electric facility produces o-cresol at an annual capacity of 10,000 tons by the methylation of phenol in the presence of catalysts. The Sherman-Williams Company uses the toluene sulfonation process and maintains an annual capacity for p-cresol of 15,000 tons. The Hercules Powder Company produced p-cresol until 1972 by the cymene- cresol process. 

Conversion of phenols into their methyl or ethyl ethers by reaction with the corresponding alkyl sulphates in the presence of aqueous sodium hydroxide affords a method which avoids the use of the more expensive alkyl halides (e.g. the synthesis of methyl 2-naphthyl ether and veratraldehyde, Expt 6.111). Also included in Expt 6.111 is a general procedure for the alkylation of phenols under PTC conditions.38,39 The method is suitable for 2,6-dialkylphenols, naphthols and various functionally substituted phenols. The alkylating agents include dimethyl sulphate, diethyl sulphate, methyl iodide, allyl bromide, epichlorohy-drin, butyl bromide and benzyl chloride. 

A number of other proton transfer reactions from carbon which have been studied using this approach are shown in Table 8. The results should be treated with reserve as it has not yet been established fully that the derived Bronsted exponents correspond exactly with those determined in the conventional way. One problem concerns the assumption that the activity coefficient ratios cancel, but doubts have also been raised by one of the originators of the method that, unless solvent effects on the transition state are intermediate between those on the reactants and products, anomalous Bronsted exponents will be obtained [172(c)]. The Bronsted exponents determined for menthone and the other ketones in Table 8 are roughly those expected by comparison with the values obtained for ketones using the conventional procedure (Table 2). For nitroethane the two values j3 = 0.72 and 0.65 which are shown in Table 8 result from the use of different H functions determined with amine and carbon acid indicators, respectively. Both values are roughly similar to the values (0.50 [103], 0.65 [104]), obtained by varying the base catalyst in aqueous solution. The result for 2-methyl-3-phenylpropionitrile fits in well with the exponents determined for malononitriles by general base catalysis but differs from the value j3 0.71 shown for l,4-dicyano-2-butene in Table 8. This latter result is also different from the values j3 = 0.94 and 0.98 determined for l,4-dicyano-2-butene in aqueous solution with phenolate ions and amines, respectively. However, the different results for l,4-dicyano-2-butene are to be expected, since hydroxide ion is the base catalyst used in the acidity function procedure and this does not fit the Bronsted plot observed for phenolate ions and amines. The primary kinetic isotope effects [114] also show that there are differences between the hydroxide ion catalysed reaction (feH/feD = 3.5) and the reaction catalysed by phenolate ions (kH /kP = 1.4). The result for chloroform, (3 = 0.98 shown in Table 8, fits in satisfactorily with the most recent results for amine catalysed detritiation [171(a)] from which a value 3 = 1.15 0.07 was obtained. 

In the method generally used by plant chemists for the methylation of phenols, which consists in prolonged treatment with dimethyl sulfate and potassium carbonate in boiling acetone, an alcoholic group in the phenol can lead to a carbonate by the action of dimethyl carbonate formed by interaction of dimethyl sulfate with potassium carbonate ... 

The compounds described here are an analogue of the 4-t-butylcalix[n]arenes, 4-f-butyloxacalix[3]arene (28), and a variant, 4-phenyloxacalix[3]arene (30, Figures 3.17 and 3.18) containing a deep aromatic cavity. 4-r-Butyloxacalix[3J-arene is best prepared by Gutsche s original method [2] despite the more recent publication of several other routes. Syntheses of the respective bis(hydroxy-methyl)phenols (27 and 29) are also described although the methods are quite general and can be applied to prepare a variety of bis(hydroxymethyl)phenols from 4-substituted phenols. 

Claisen had reported that the proportion of C- to O-alkylation could be greatly enhanced by the use of sodium phenoxides in benzene suspension and indeed this method has been beneficially employed for o-C-isoprenylation. In a general procedure (ref.9), an ethereal solution of the phenol (0.05 mole), was treated with metallic sodium (0.2 mole) and after 1.5 hours the prenyl chloride (RCI) was introduced. Upon refluxing for 10 hours, removal of excess sodium and acidic work-up, monohydric phenols afforded yields from 66-90%. For example, 2-methylphenolwith3-methylbuten-2-ylchloridegave2-methyl-6-(3-methylbuten-2-... 

With hydride reagents such as dibal, Z-alkenes can be selectively obtained from alkynes in the phenolic lipid series (ref. 162), and related series of boron reagents greatly supplement the chemical methods of selective reduction and alkyiation. This selectivity has been achieved by the use of less reactive dialkylboranes such as bis(3-methyl-2-butyl)borane (di-isoamylborane), bis(2,3-dimethyl-2-butyl)borane (thexylborane), 9-boraUcyclo[3.kl]nonane (9-BBN) and dicyclohexylborane. Some applications in the polyethenoid field have been summarised (refs. 135,163) and the synthesis of alkenyl compounds generally reviewed (ref. 164). By the use of dibromoborane dimethylsulphide, an internal alkyne can be reduced selectively (ref. 165) as for example in the following way (R = n-alkyl). 

---