Oxiranes from halohydrins

Oxiranes are usually prepared from halohydrins. A general method of obtaining chloroalcohols from olefins is by the addition of hypochlorous acid formed in situ form -chloramides or fert-butyl hypochlorite. Bromoalcohols are produced from alkenes with Ai-bromosuccinimide or iV-bromoacetamide, while iodoalcohols are prepared with iodine in the presence of oxidants (iodic acid, oxygen, and nitrite). 

Finally, mention may be made of those articles in which this method is utilized in the synthesis of optically active oxiranes for example, the simple synthesis of monosubstituted (S)-oxiranes and the asymmetric cyclization of some chlorohydrins catalyzed by optically active cobalt (salen)-type complexes, or in the enantiomeric selection of racemic oxiranes via halohydrins and /3-hydroxy sulfides. A useful three-step synthesis has been worked out from (S)-amino acids to (R)-alkyloxiranes as well as enantiomer resolution for chiral oxiranes by complexation gas chromatography. ... 

As anticipated by the formation of oxiranes (oxacyclopropanes, epoxides) from halohydrins, the four-membered oxygen-containing ring, oxetane (oxacyclobutane), can be prepared by heating 3-chloropropanol (HOCH2CH2CH2CI) with potassium hydroxide (KOH) (Equation 8.51). 

In its simplest form, the study of neighboring group effects notes that a heteroatom with a pair of nonbonding electrons can act as a nucleophile in an intramolecular displacement reaction, just as external nucleophiles can participate in intermolecu-lar S]v2 reactions. In an example we have seen (p. 317), oxiranes can be formed from halohydrins in base (Fig. 21.2). 

Oxiranes cannot be prepared directly from 1,2-diols by dehydration. Formation of the oxirane intermediate has been studied in connection with the mechanism of the pinacolic rearrangement. Oxiranes can be prepared stereoselectively from the acetals and ketals of 1,2-diols. D-(+)-2,3-epoxybutane has been obtained from an optically active diol via conversion of the ketal 64 to a halohydrin ester (Eq. 52). ... 

Via Halohydrin Cyclisations and Related Reactions 8 From Aldehydes and Ketones 8 Synthesis of Chiral Oxirans 10 Biosynthesis 12... 

Oxirans. - The synthesis of l,2-anhydro-3,4-di-0-benzyl-6-deoxy-a-D-glucopyranose and its conformational analysis have been reported. A range of epoxides have been prepared by base treatment of bromohydrins, which were made by reaction of hydrogen bromide with aldonolactones. A one-pot conversion of vicinal diols into epoxides employs halohydrin ester intermediates generated from cyclic orthoacetates and either acetyl bromide or trimethylsilyl chloride. Levoglucosenone has been transformed into l,6 3,4-dianhydro-p-D-talopyranose by way of a trn/w-iodo-acetoxylation of the alkene moiety... 

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