Phenol synthesis 8- menthol

The chiral alcohols are mainly employed as esters or enol ethers. Esters with carboxylic acids can be obtained by any convenient esterification technique. Dienol ethers were obtained by transetherification with the ethyl enol ether of a 1,3-diketone, followed by Wittig reaction8 silyldienol ethers were obtained by the method of Danishefsky11-12 and simple enol ethers by mercury-catalyzed transetherification13. Esters and enol ethers have been used as chiral dienophiles or dienes in diastereoselective Diels-Alder reactions (Section D. 1.6.1.1.1.1.). (R)-l-Phenylethanol [(R)-4] has been used for enantioselective protonation (Section C.) and the (S)-enantiomer as chiral leaving group in phenol ethers for the synthesis of binaphthols (Section B.2.) the phenol ethers are prepared as described for menthol in the preceding section. (S)-2-Octanol [(S)-2] has found applications in the synthesis of chiral allenes (Section B.I.). 

Phenol, (-) menthol and diethyl aluminium chloride were reacted in toluene to produce the required intermediate for the ensuing asymmetric synthesis. Addition of chloral and stirring for 24 h at 25 °C gave the product. (-)-2-(2,2,2-trichloro-1 -hydrojqfethyl)phenol. 

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