2-Oxetanones nucleophilic attack

This is a widely observed type of reaction for oxetanes and 2-oxetanones and has many variations. The typical pattern involves electrophilic attack on the ring oxygen atom of oxetanes to form an unstable oxetanium ion. The latter either undergoes C—O ring scission to a carbonium ion which then combines with a nucleophile, or nucleophilic attack by even very weak nucleophiles at the a-carbon atom. For clarity, these reactions will be arranged according to the nature of the overall process. 

There are an extremely large number of reactions of 2-oxetanones with nucleophilic reagents, and space will allow inclusion of only representative examples. /3-Lactones show the interesting Bal.2 mechanism for base-catalyzed hydrolysis and the Aal2 mechanism for acid-catalyzed hydrolysis, according to data on kinetics and optical rotation studies of optically active lactones. The mechanistic interpretations are complicated, however, by the possibilities for subsequent elimination and addition reactions to occur, so that both of the two sites for nucleophilic attack on the 0-lactone skeleton, C-2 and C-4, may become involved. In fact 0-lactones are unusually insensitive to base, as well as acid, catalysis, the slow reaction with neutral water predominating between pH 1 and 9 (74JCS(P2)377). 

A similar type of acid-catalyzed condensation of aldehydes with 4-methylene-2-oxetanone (diketene), giving 4-oxo-6-methyl-l,3-dioxins, has been patented (73GEP2149650). However, other work has established that <5-hydroxy-/3-keto acids or unsaturated keto acids are formed as the principal products (equation 24) (78CPB3877, 78CL409). The latter reaction probably involves electrophilic attack of the protonated aldehyde on the nucleophilic exocyclic methylene carbon atom of the diketone. A closely related reaction of acetals with diketene, catalyzed by titanium tetrachloride, gives the corresponding <5-alkoxy-/3-keto esters (74CL1189). 

Oxetanones ((3-lactones) are readily attacked by nucleophilic reagents. Reaction occur by ... 

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