Nitrate esters synthesis

While we believe our discussions of nitramine and nitrate ester synthesis to be comprehensive, it would be quite impossible to have a comprehensive discussion of aromatic nitration in this short chapter - published studies into aromatic nitration run into many tens of thousands. The purpose of this chapter is primarily to discuss the methods used for the synthesis of polynitroarylene explosives. Undoubtedly the most important and direct method for the synthesis of polynitroarylenes involves direct electrophilic nitration of the parent aromatic hydrocarbon. This work gives an overview of aromatic nitration but the discussion doesn t approach mechanistic studies in detail. Readers with more specialized interests in aromatic nitration are advised to consult several important works published in this area which give credit to this important reaction class.The use of polynitroarylenes as explosives and their detailed industrial synthesis has been expertly covered by Urbanski in Volumes 1 and 4 of Chemistry and Technology of Explosives ... 

Solutions of dinitrogen pentoxide in anhydrous nitric acid are unlikely to find wide use for the industrial synthesis of nitrate esters - synthesis from the parent alcohol is relatively straightforward and so this reagent, which is more expensive than mixed acid, holds few advantages. 

In 1992, nitrate esters 10 and 11 were identified as the female sex pheromone of the cotton leaf perforator (Bucculatrix thurberiella) [26]. Synthesis of (Z)-9-tetradecenyl nitrate (10) and (Z)-8-tridecenyl nitrate (11) is shown in Scheme 16 [26]. A 100 2 blend of 10 and 11 is highly attractive for male B. thurberiella. 

Henry reactions have been extensively exploited for the synthesis of nitrate ester explosives. The condensation of nitroalkanes with aldehydes, followed by esterification of the hydroxy groups with nitric acid, leads to a number of nitrate ester explosives (see Chapter 3). The two examples given above (166 and 167) are synthesized from the C-nitration of the polyols obtained from the condensation of formaldehyde with nitromethane and nitroethane respectively. 

Bachmann and Biermann reported the synthesis of nitroalkanes from the thermolysis of acyl nitrates. The thermolysis of nitrite and nitrate esters over an asbestos catalyst is also reported to yield nitroalkanes. ... 

Urbanski has given a comprehensive account of the use of nitrate esters as commercial and military explosives and their detailed industrial synthesis in Volumes 2 and 4 of Chemistry and Technology of Explosives. 

An interesting example of the effectiveness of different reagents for 0-nitration can be seen during the synthesis of neo-inositol-based nitrate ester explosives. l,4-Dideoxy-l,4-dinitro-neo-inositol (15), a compound readily prepared from the condensation of nitromethane and glyoxal in the presence of base,undergoes conversion to the tetranitrate ester (16) on... 

The reaction of alkyl halides with silver nitrate constitutes an extremely useful method for the synthesis of high purity nitrate esters on a laboratory scale. ° The driving force for these reactions is the formation of the insoluble silver halide. Reactions have been conducted under homogenous and heterogeneous conditions. For the latter a solution of the alkyl halide in an inert solvent like benzene or ether is stirred with finely powdered silver nitrate. However, this method has been outdated and reactions are now commonly conducted under homogeneous conditions using acetonitrile as solvent. 

Synthesis of nitrate esters from the reaction of alkyl halides with silver nitrate... 

An extremely mild method for the synthesis of nitrate esters from easily oxidized or acid-sensitive alcohols involves the decomposition of a nitratocarbonate (29). The nitratocar-bonate is prepared in situ from metathesis between a chloroformate (reaction between phosgene and an alcohol) and silver nitrate in acetonitrile in the presence of pyridine at room temperature. Under these conditions the nitratocarbonate readily decomposes to yield the corresponding nitrate ester and carbon dioxide. Few examples of these reactions are available in the literature and they are limited to a laboratory scale. 

Voelter and co-workers synthesized the nitrate esters of some carbohydrates by treating the corresponding trifluoromethanesulfonate (triflate) esters with tetrabutylammonium nitrate. Yields were generally excellent. The same authors describe a one-pot process for the synthesis... 

McKillop and Ford synthesized a range of primary and secondary alkyl nitrates in excellent yields by treating alkyl bromides with mercury (I) nitrate in 1,2-dimethoxyethane at reflux (Equation 3.9). This method has been used to synthesize substituted nitrate esters from both a-bromocarboxylic acid and a-bromoketone substrates. Unlike metathesis with silver salts, which are widely known to promote SnI reactions, this method is not useful for the synthesis of nitrate esters from tertiary alkyl halides. 

The dihydroxylation of alkenes is a useful sttategy for the synthesis of polyols and these can be nitrated to the corresponding nitrate esters. Evans and Gallaghan " synthesized both the mono- (74) and di- (70) allyl ethers of pentaerythritol and used these for the synthesis of some novel nitrate ester explosives. 

Despite the moderate to good yields obtained for a range of primary and secondary nitramines, the above methods have not found wide use. Their use in organic synthesis is severely limited by the incompatibility of many functional groups in the presence of strong bases. This is particularly relevant to the synthesis of explosive materials, where nitrate ester and C-nitro functionality are incompatible with strong bases. 

The reaction of dinitrogen pentoxide with primary aliphatic nitramines and amines leads to deamination and the formation of a nitrate ester as the major product. Consequently, dinitrogen pentoxide cannot be used for the synthesis of primary nitramines. In contrast, both primary and secondary arylamines undergo efficient A-nitration with dinitrogen pentoxide in chlorinated solvents. ... 

Treatment of DPT (239) with dinitrogen pentoxide in pure nitric acid leads to the isolation of the nitrate ester (249), an unstable explosive which is highly sensitive to impact and readily undergoes hydrolysis. A low nitration temperature favours the formation of (249) and its presence during the nitrolysis of hexamine is clearly undesirable. The nitrolysis of DPT (239) with one equivalent of pure nitric acid in an excess of acetic anhydride yields 1-acetomethyl-3,5,7-trinitro-l,3,5,7-tetraazacyclooctane (251), a useful starting material for the synthesis of other explosives. ... 

Alkyl azides are conveniently prepared from the reaction of alkali metal azides with an alkyl halide, tosylate, mesylate, nitrate ester or any other alkyl derivative containing a good leaving group. Reactions usually work well for primary and secondary alkyl substrates and are best conducted in polar aprotic solvents like DMF and DMSO. The synthesis and chemistry of azido compounds is the subject of a functional group series. ... 

Displacements with azido anion are tolerant of many pre-existing explosophoric groups but the nitrate ester group readily undergoes displacement as seen for the synthesis of bis(2-azidoethyl)nitramine (13) from Ai-nitrodiethanolamine dinitrate (12) (DINA). " ... 

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