Phenol reaction with carbon dioxide

Ca.rhoxyla.tlon, This is the process of iatroduciag a carboxyUc acid group iato a phenol or naphthol by reaction with carbon dioxide under appropriate conditions of heat and pressure. Important examples are the carboxylation of phenol and 2-naphthol to give sahcyhc acid and 2-hydroxy-3-naphthoic acid, respectively. 

Lithiation of dibenzofuran with butyllithium and mercuration both occur at the 4-position. Thallation occurs at the 2-position, however (57IZV1391). The mercury and thallium derivatives serve as a source of the iodo compounds by reaction with iodine. Bromodibenzofurans undergo bromine/lithium exchange with butyllithium and the derived lithio compounds may be converted into phenols by reaction with molecular oxygen in the presence of a Grignard reagent, into amines by reaction with O-methylhydroxylamine, into sulfinic acids by reaction with sulfur dioxide, into carboxylic acids by reaction with carbon dioxide and into methyl derivatives by reaction with methyl sulfate (Scheme 100). This last reaction... 

The manufacture of aspirin is based on the synthesis of salicylic acid from phenol. Reaction of carbon dioxide with sodium phenoxide is an electrophilic aromatic substitution on the ortho, para-directing phenoxy ring. The ortho isomer is steam distilled away from the para isomer. 

Reactions of Picric Acid, (i) The presence of the three nitro groups in picric acid considerably increases the acidic properties of the phenolic group and therefore picric acid, unlike most phenols, will evolve carbon dioxide from sodium carbonate solution. Show this by boiling picric acid with sodium carbonate solution, using the method described in Section 5, p. 330. The reaction is not readily shown by a cold saturated aqueous solution of picric acid, because the latter is so dilute that the sodium carbonate is largely converted into sodium bicarbonate without loss of carbon dioxide. 

To hydrolyse an ester of a phenol (e.g., phenyl acetate), proceed as above but cool the alkaline reaction mixture and treat it with carbon dioxide until saturated (sohd carbon dioxide may also be used). Whether a solid phenol separates or not, remove it by extraction with ether. Acidify the aqueous bicarbonate solution with dilute sulphuric acid and isolate the acid as detailed for the ester of an alcohol. An alternative method, which is not so time-consuming, may be employed. Cool the alkaline reaction mixture in ice water, and add dilute sulphuric acid with stirring until the solution is acidic to Congo red paper and the acid, if aromatic or otherwise insoluble in the medium, commences to separate as a faint but permanent precipitate. Now add 5 per cent, sodium carbonate solution with vigorous stirring until the solution is alkaline to litmus paper and the precipitate redissolves completely. Remove the phenol by extraction with ether. Acidify the residual aqueous solution and investigate the organic acid as above. 

Kolbe-Schmitt reaction (Section 24 10) The high pressure re action of the sodium salt of a phenol with carbon dioxide to give an o hydroxybenzoic acid The Kolbe-Schmitt reac tion IS used to prepare salicylic acid in the synthesis of as pinn... 

Alkylphenols undergo a carboxylation reaction known as the Kolbe Schmidt reaction. In the following example, the phenolate anion of /)-nonylphenol (15) reacts with carbon dioxide under pressure. Neutralization generates a sahcyhc acid (16) (10). 

Early Synthesis. Reported by Kolbe in 1859, the synthetic route for preparing the acid was by treating phenol with carbon dioxide in the presence of metallic sodium (6). During this early period, the only practical route for large quantities of sahcyhc acid was the saponification of methyl sahcylate obtained from the leaves of wintergreen or the bark of sweet bitch. The first suitable commercial synthetic process was introduced by Kolbe 15 years later in 1874 and is the route most commonly used in the 1990s. In this process, dry sodium phenate reacts with carbon dioxide under pressure at elevated (180—200°C) temperature (7). There were limitations, however not only was the reaction reversible, but the best possible yield of sahcyhc acid was 50%. An improvement by Schmitt was the control of temperature, and the separation of the reaction into two parts. At lower (120—140°C) temperatures and under pressures of 500—700 kPa (5—7 atm), the absorption of carbon dioxide forms the intermediate phenyl carbonate almost quantitatively (8,9). The sodium phenyl carbonate rearranges predominately to the ortho-isomer. sodium sahcylate (eq. 8). 

The key compound in the synthesis of aspir in, salicylic acid, is prepared from phenol by a process discovered in the nineteenth century by the German chemist Hermann Kolbe. In the Kolbe synthesis, also known as the Kolbe—Schmitt reaction, sodium phen-oxide is heated with carbon dioxide under pressure, and the reaction mixture is subsequently acidified to yield salicylic acid ... 

Since, in Kolbe s synthesis, as here described, the mono-sodium salicylate reacts to some extent with unchanged sodium phenoxide, producing the di-sodium salt, part of the phenol is liberated and excluded from the reaction. The reaction proceeds to completion if the sodium phenoxide is heated to about 150° for a long time, with carbon dioxide under pressure in the autoclave. This is the technical method of Schmitt. 

Phenoxide ion generated by treating phenol with sodium hydroxide is even more reactive than phenol towards electrophilic aromatic substitution. Hence, it undergoes electrophilic substitution with carbon dioxide, a weak electrophile. Ortho hydroj benzoic acid is formed as the main reaction product. 

Reaction XXXVI. Condensation of Carbon Tetrachloride with Phenols and simultaneous Hydrolysis (Tiemann-Reimer). (B., 10, 2185.)—This reaction is closely analogous to that of the formation of hydroxy-aldehydes by means of chloroform and caustic alkali (see p. 104). A mixture of a phenol, carbon tetrachloride and caustic soda or caustic potash solution is boiled. Condensation occurs, chiefly in the para-position, but small amounts of the ortho-acids are also formed. The product, after the excess of carbon tetrachloride has been removed, is saturated with carbon dioxide and the unchanged phenol extracted with ether. The hydroxy acids are then precipitated by acidification with hydrochloric acid. 

In general a phenol will undergo direct carboxylation of the nucleus when the dry sodium salt is heated under pressure with carbon dioxide (the Kolbe-Schmidt reaction). Addition of the weakly electrophilic carbon dioxide is promoted by electron release from the oxyanionic site. With phenol itself the ultimate product is salicylic acid (o-hydroxybenzoic acid) predominantly ortho attack may be attributable to stabilisation of the transition state through chelation. 

The formation of the phenoxide anion enhances the reactivity of the ortho and para positions of the aromatic ring towards electrophilic reagents. The reaction of the phenoxide anion with carbon dioxide at 130 °C leads to ortho carboxylation (the Kolbe reactior. Thus phenol gives salicylic acid (4.4), the acetate of which is aspirin. The reaction is reversible and ortho phenolic acids undergo decarboxylation on heating. 

Treatment of the salt of a phenol with carbon dioxide brings about substitution of the carboxyl group, COOH, for hydrogen of the ring. This reaction is known as the Kolbe reaction its most important application is in the conversion of phenol itself into o-hydroxybcnzoic acid, known as salicylic acid. Although some p-hydroxybenzoic acid is formed as well, the separation of the two isomers can be... 

In contrast to aliphatic alcohols, which are mostly less acidic than phenol, phenol forms salts with aqueous alkali hydroxide solutions. At room temperature, phenol can be liberated from the salts even with carbon dioxide. At temperatures near the boiling point of phenol, it can displace carboxylic acids, e.g. acetic acid, from their salts, and then phenolates are formed. The contribution of ortho- and -quinonoid resonance structures allows electrophilic substitution reactions such as chlorination, sulphonation, nitration, nitrosation and mercuration. The introduction of two or three nitro groups into the benzene ring can only be achieved indirectly because of the sensitivity of phenol towards oxidation. Nitrosation in the para position can be carried out even at ice bath temperature. Phenol readily reacts with carbonyl compounds in the presence of acid or basic catalysts. Formaldehyde reacts with phenol to yield hydroxybenzyl alcohols, and synthetic resins on further reaction. Reaction of acetone with phenol yields bisphenol A [2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane]. 

Activated alkanes, such as cyclohexanone, acetone, and aliphatic nitro compounds, can react with carbon dioxide even without metal catalysis. A typical example is the phenolate-catalyzed reaction of acetophenone with C02 to the corresponding carbon add. A catalytic conversion of the non-activated methane with C02 to give acetic acid was reported by Fujiwara and co-workers [72], The reaction was carried out in the presence of palladium and copper acetate and also stoichiometric amounts of the oxidant K2S208. 

The conversion of naphthalene to 2-naphthoic acids by irradiation with carbon dioxide and electron donors (e.g. amines or dimethoxybenzene) has been further investigated and the quantum yields of the reaction measured for different solvents and donors. Electron transfer also occurs in the photochemical phosphonation of naphthalene and phenanthrene achieved by irradiation with trialkyl-phosphites and electron acceptors such as 1,3-dicyanobenzene. The photonitration of phenol in aqueous solutions of nitrate ion has been reported and phenols have been prepared by irradiation of substituted benzenes with the aromatic N-oxide (132). ... 

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