Phase transfer catalysts cryptands

It is worth mentioning at this point that according to Normant et al. (1975) simple polyamines such as tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) are even more active than [2.2.2]-cryptand in the benzylation of acetates in acetonitrile under liquid-solid conditions. These authors suggested that the activity was due to salt solubilization by cation complexation and not to formation of a quaternary ammonium ion since the latter showed no activity. This statement, however, is not in line with the results of Cote and Bauer (1977), who were unable to detect any interaction between K+ and TMEDA in acetonitrile. Furthermore, Vander Zwan and Hartner (1978) found Aliquat 336 (tricaprylylmethylammonium chloride) to be almost as effective as TMEDA in this reaction (Table 30). It might well be, however, that in amine-catalysed benzylation reactions the quaternary salt formed in situ acts both as a reactant and as a phase-transfer catalyst, since Dou et al. (1977) have shown that the benzyltriethylammonium ion is a powerful benzylation agent. 

With a view to producing catalysts that can easily be removed from reaction products, typical phase-transfer catalysts such as onium salts, crown ethers, and cryptands have been immobilized on polymer supports. The use of such catalysts in liquid-liquid and liquid-solid two-phase systems has been described as triphase catalysis (Regen, 1975, 1977). Cinquini et al. (1976) have compared the activities of catalysts consisting of ligands bound to chloromethylated polystyrene cross-linked with 2 or 4% divinylbenzene and having different densities of catalytic sites ([126], [127], [ 132]—[ 135]) in the... 

Figure 5.16 Examples of phase transfer catalysts attached to polystyrene, containing (a) a tetraalkylammonium group, (b) a crown ether group and (c) a cryptand group...

It was a result of demand from industry in the mid-1960s for an alternative to be found for the expensive traditional synthetic procedures that led to the evolution of phase-transfer catalysis in which hydrophilic anions could be transferred into an organic medium. Several phase-transfer catalysts are available quaternary ammonium, phosphonium and arsonium salts, crown ethers, cryptands and polyethylene glycols. Of these, the quaternary ammonium salts are the most versatile and, compared with the crown ethers, which have many applications, they have the advantage of being relatively cheap, stable and non-toxic [1, 2]. Additionally, comparisons of the efficiencies of the various catalysts have shown that the ammonium salts are superior to the crown ethers and polyethylene glycols and comparable with the cryptands [e.g. 3, 4], which have fewer proven applications and require higher... 

Quaternary onium salts were the first phase-transfer catalysts used subsequently, a number of compounds (linear polyethers, polypodands, crown-ethers, cryptands, cage-compounds, etc.) were found effective for the anion activation in two-phase systems. These structurally different systems must satisfy at least two fundamental conditions in order to behave as phase-transfer catalysts i) solubility in the organic phase ii) steric hindrance around the cationic center leading to a good cation-anion separation within the ion-pair. 

Immobilization of phase-transfer catalysts on polymeric matrices avoids the problem of separating and recycling the catalysts. In this case the chemical stability of the immobilized catalyst becomes very important quaternary salts often decompose under drastic reaction conditions whereas polydentate ligands are always stable. However, the difficult synthesis of cryptands, despite their high catalytic efficiency, can hardly justify their use. Synthesis of crown-ethers is much easier, but catalytic efficiences are often too low. 

The preparation of novel phase transfer catalysts and their application in solving synthetic problems are well documented(l). Compounds such as quaternary ammonium and phosphonium salts, phosphoramides, crown ethers, cryptands, and open-chain polyethers promote a variety of anionic reactions. These include alkylations(2), carbene reactions (3), ylide reactions(4), epoxidations(S), polymerizations(6), reductions(7), oxidations(8), eliminations(9), and displacement reactions(10) to name only a few. The unique activity of a particular catalyst rests in its ability to transport the ion across a phase boundary. This boundary is normally one which separates two immiscible liquids in a biphasic liquid-liquid reaction system. 

Solid-liquid phase-transfer catalyst.1 The reagent represents a new class of catalysts, acyclic cryptands or tridents. It is singled out of a group as the best compromise of efficiency/price/toxicity. It solubilizes salts of alkali metals as well as of transition metals such as RuC13 and PdCl2, probably because of the flexibility of the molecule. In addition the trident is sensitive to the nature of the anion, but anionic activation is less than that obtained with cryptands. 

The fluorination of haloethyl or alkanesulfonyloxyethyl aromatic compounds in conventional methods usually uses a naked fluoride ion generated from phase-transfer catalyst (i.e., potassium ion complexed by a cryptand, or a tetraalkylammonium salt) to... 

Covalent attachment of ligands to polymer supports retains their complexing properties156 and widens their applications. For instance, immobilized crown poly-thers and cryptands used as phase-transfer catalysts can be recycled55. Chiral ligands have been used for a chromatographical separation of D- and L-amino acids75. ... 

Landini, D., A. Maia, and F. Montanari, Dehydrating Effect of Concentrated Aqueous Alkaline Solutions in Aliphatic Nucleophilic Substitutions Carried Out in Aqueous-Organic Two-Phase Systems The Different Behavior of Various Phase Transfer Catalysts Quaternary Salts, Crown Ethers and Cryptands, Isr.J. Chem., 26, 263 (1985). 

There are also many uses for nonenzymatic polymeric catalysts. For instance, polymer-bound crown ethers, cryptates, and channel compounds behave as polymeric phase-transfer catalysts. The catalytic activity is based on selective complex formation. An example is the use of polystyrene-attached oxygen heterocycles [18]-crown-6 or a cryptand[222] to catalyze replacements of bromine in n-octyl bromide by an iodine or by a cyanide groups... 

Phase-transfer catalysts, such as the classic onium salts, crown ethers, and cryptands, have been immobilized on insoluble polymer matrices with various degrees of cross-linking. Their activity remains reasonably high if the catalytic centre is sufficiently far from the polymer backbone or if the resin is very porous. However, with phosphonium salts immobilized on silica gel die length of the hydrophobic chain between the active centre and the matrix and the solvent determine the adsorption capacity of the polar support, which then controls the rate of reaction. ... 

The use of phase-transfer catalysts bound to polymeric supports has been reported. The catalytic functional groups anchored to the polymer were (i) quaternary ammonium salts (Fig. 13-la,b,c), (ii) phosphonium salts (Fig. 13-ld), (iii) Crown ethers (Fig. 13-le), and (iv) cryptands (Fig. 13-If). Chloromethylated, 2-4% cross-linked polystyrene and silica gel were used as the support polymers, and the catalyst groups were anchored either by the reaction with the corresponding amine or phosphine or by absorption. Spacer-arms were used for linking the crown ether and cryptand (Cinouini et al., 1976 Cinquini et al., 1975 Molinari et al., 1977 Tundo, 1977, 1978). 

While a number of different phase transfer catalysts such as tetrabutyl ammonium halides (Ref. 10, 11), tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide (Ref. 16-18), tetrabutyl ammonium hydrogen sulfate (Ref. 21-22), Adogen-464 (Ref. 16, 18), tetrabutyl phosphonium bromide (Ref. 19, 20), 18-crown-6 (Ref. 12, 13, 19, 20), cryptand [222] (Ref. 21, 22), etc., have been used in the chemical modification of polymers, few systematic studies of the influence of the catalyst on the reactions have been done. It is presumed that the same considerations which govern the choice of a phase transfer catalyst for classical organic synthesis also apply in the case of reactions with polymers. 

Gas-liquid phase-transfer catalysis (GL-PTC) is a new synthetic organic method that has similarities both with phase-transfer catalysis (PTC) and with gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) in that anion transfer processes and partition equilibria between gaseous and liquid phases both take place and affect the synthesis. Using GL-PTC, nucleophilic substitution reactions have been so far carried out under operative conditions and with synthetic results, making this method different from the well known liquid-liquid (LL-) and solid-liquid (SL-) phase-transfer catalysis. As regards these latter, phase-transfer catalysts (onium salts, crown ethers and cryptands) transfer the reactive anion from an aqueous liquid (LL-PTC) or a solid salt (SL-PTC) phase into the organic one in which the substitution reaction occurs. In the case of GL-PTC, where no solvent is used, the catalyst always acts as an anion transfer (between solid and liquid phases) but, as it works in the molten state it also constitutes the medium in which the reaction proceeds. 

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