Oxygen Bond Formation

Esters have been prepared in good to excellent yields by passing a mixture of the carboxylic acid and the alcohol through a bed of Nafion-H at 125°C at such a rate that the time of contact with the catalyst is in the order of 5-7 seconds. Esters can also be prepared in very good yields by stirring a mixture of the acid, alcohol and Amberlyst-15 at room temperature for times generally ranging from 5 to 15 

Stirring a mixture of a carbonyl compound, triethyl orthoformate and Amberlyst-15 at 0°-5 C gave the acetal or enol ether in good to excellent 

Amberlyst-15 was also used as a catalyst for the reaction of alcohols and phenols with tetrahydropyran (Eqn. 22.33). Refluxing a mixture of an alcohol and dimethoxymethane in the presence of a Nafion-H catalyst gave the methoxy methyl ethers in very good yields (Eqn. 22.34). ° Nafion-H was also used to catalyze the conversion of diols to cyclic ethers.  

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The carbon-oxygen bond formation follows the same pathway. For both nitrogen-carbon and oxygen-carbon bond formation, a competing reaction is 13-hydride elimination (if a hydride is present at the heteroatom fragment), which lowers the yield and the reduced arene is obtained after reductive elimination. Reductive elimination of the C-N or C-0 fragments should be faster than 13-hydride elimination in order to avoid reduction of the aryl moiety. The side-reaction is shown at the bottom of Figure 13.25. 

Carbon-Oxygen Bond Formation Hydroxyl or carboxylate groups can participate in a ring-closure reaction by an intramolecular nucleophilic attack to a generated electrophilic center as already described in Schemes 1 and 3. 

Nitrogen-Oxygen Bond Formation The anodic oxidation of vicinal dioximes gives 3,4-diphenylfurazan-2-oxide by intramolecular ring formation (Scheme 42) [59]. 

Carbon-Oxygen Bond Formation The cathodic reduction of some nitrocarhonyl compounds in aqueous acidic medium gives the hydroxylamino derivatives that can undergo a ring-closure reaction affording anthrandic compounds or isoxazolones [102-104] (Schemes 70 and 71). 

The anodic oxidation of catechol in the presence of 1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid was carried out in aqueous solution containing sodium acetate in an undivided cell at graphite and nickel hydroxide electrodes [114]. The results did not fit with the expected structure (Scheme 47, path A) but a dis-piropyrimidine was isolated in 35% yield (Scheme 47, path B). It seems that the initial attack of 1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid on the anodically formed o-quinone does not occur through the carbon-oxygen bond formation but rather through the carbon-carbon bond formation, giving rise to the final product via several consecutive reaction steps. 

Carbon-Oxygen Bond Formation Based on Hydrogen Transfer 135... 

The environmentally benign synthesis of lactones has attracted attention because of their importance in natural product chemistry. The oxidative cyclization of diols via carbon-oxygen bond formation is the most well-known approach for the synthesis of lactones [70]. 

This review is a summary of the work done and potential opportunities for inexpensive and easily accessible base catalysts, such as alkaline earth metal oxides and hydroxides, as well as alkali metals and oxides supported on alkaline earth metal oxides. Preparation methods of these materials, as well as characterization of basic sites are reported. An extensive review of their catalytic applications for a variety of organic transformations including isomerization, carbon-carbon and carbon-oxygen bond formation, and hydrogen transfer reactions is presented. 

C. Carbon- Oxygen Bond Formation Reactions C.l. Cyanoethylation of Alcohols... 

A criss-cross flexibility of O2 in such a complex was reported" previously by Bartlett and coworkers. Carbon-oxygen bond formation and C—H bond breaking would then follow such an intermediate. Since the formation of the C—Oa bond requires a closer approach to the olefin than the C—H bond breaking, a transition state favouring C—Oa... 

The Tsuji-Trost-type reaction is applicable to bifunctional vinyl epoxide 144 and 1,3-diketone using a palladium catalyst as demonstrated by Koizumi, who obtained polymer 145 (Equation (67)). The reaction proceeds at 0 °C to a reflux temperature of THE. The resulting polymer 145 is isolated in a quantitative yield. The molecular weight of 145 is ca. 3000 (PDI = 2.0-2.7) when 5 mol% of Pd(PPh3)4 is employed as a catalyst. Use of Pd2(dba)3 with several bidentate phosphines such as dppe, dppp, dppb, and dppf is also effective for the polymerization reaction. Propargyl carbonate 146 also reacts with bisphenols in the presence of a palladium catalyst to afford polyethers 147 via carbon-oxygen bond formation at s - and r/) -carbon atoms (Equation (68)). 

These occur readily between electron-rich alkenes and electron-poor carbonyl compounds. The first example, reported in 1959 (64HC(19-2)729), was the formation of 4,4-diaryloxetane-2,2-dicarbonitriles by the room temperature reaction of 1,1-diarylethylenes and carbonyl cyanide. Continued investigation of this reaction shows that a telomerization product is also formed, the tetraphenylpentadienedinitrile (55) from 1,1-diphenylethylene and carbonyl cyanide. This may be interpreted to indicate that carbon-carbon bond formation may commence somewhat ahead of carbon-oxygen bond formation (75MI51302). This... 

The formation of oxygen heterocycles through carbon-oxygen bond formation was also reported. Substituted 2-(o-halophenyl)-ethanols were converted to dihydrobenzofuranes using palladium and Buchwald s bulky biaryl-type ligands (3.43.). The reaction was also efficient in the formation of six and seven membered oxygen heterocycles.53... 

Examples of the transition metal catalyzed formation of carbon-heteroatom bonds other than carbon-nitrogen are less abundant. In a recent survey of the copper catalyzed carbon-oxygen bond formation between alcohols and organotrifluroborates the coupling of 3-thienyltrifluoroborate and 2-furfuryl alcohol gave the expected thienyl-furfuryl-ether in good yield (6.83.),113... 

Reactions involving alkyl-oxygen bond formation... 

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