Phenoxide formation

Polymerization. Typically, the dihydric phenol (1 mole) and aqueous alkali metal hydroxide (2 moles) are mixed under an inert atmosphere in sulfolane and benzene. The water from the aqueous solution plus metal phenoxide formation is removed by distillation of a benzene-water azeotrope between 110° and 140°C. After water removal has been completed, the excess benzene is distilled off, the anhydrous salt in sulfolane cooled to 70°-80°C, and bis(4-chlorophenyl)-sulfone (I) added. The temperature is increased gradually to 200°C and held for four to five hours. Methyl chloride is bubbled in at the end of the polymerization to convert any terminal phenoxide groups to methyl ethers (10). 

Reaction with arenediazonium salts Adding a phe nol to a solution of a diazonium salt formed from a primary aromatic amine leads to formation of an azo compound The reaction is carried out at a pH such that a significant portion of the phenol is pres ent as its phenoxide ion The diazonium ion acts as an electrophile toward the strongly activated ring of the phenoxide ion... 

The Kolbe-Schmitt reaction is an equilibrium process governed by thermodynamic control The position of equilibrium favors formation of the weaker base (salicylate ion) at the expense of the stronger one (phenoxide ion) Thermodynamic control is also responsible for the pronounced bias toward ortho over para substitution Salicylate anion IS a weaker base than p hydroxybenzoate and predominates at equilibrium... 

The most important appHcation of metal alkoxides in reactions of the Friedel-Crafts type is that of aluminum phenoxide as a catalyst in phenol alkylation (205). Phenol is sufficientiy acidic to react with aluminum with the formation of (CgH O)2Al. Aluminum phenoxide, when dissolved in phenol, greatiy increases the acidic strength. It is beheved that, similar to alkoxoacids (206) an aluminum phenoxoacid is formed, which is a strong conjugate acid of the type HAl(OCgH )4. This acid is then the catalyticaHy active species (see Alkoxides, metal). 

Although 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde can be made by the saligenin route, it has been made historically by the Reimer-Tiemann process, which also produces sahcylaldehyde (64). Treatment of phenol with chloroform and aqueous sodium hydroxide results in the formation of benzal chlorides, which are rapidly hydrolyzed by the alkaline medium into aldehydes. Acidification of the phenoxides results in the formation of the final products, sahcylaldehyde and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde. The ratio of ortho and para isomers is flexible and can be controlled within certain limits. The overall reaction scheme is shown in Figure 1. Product separation is accomphshed by distillation, but this process leads to environmental problems because of the quantities of sodium chloride produced. 

ButylatedPhenols and Cresols. Butylated phenols and cresols, used primarily as oxidation inhibitors and chain terrninators, are manufactured by direct alkylation of the phenol using a wide variety of conditions and acid catalysts, including sulfuric acid, -toluenesulfonic acid, and sulfonic acid ion-exchange resins (110,111). By use of a small amount of catalyst and short residence times, the first-formed, ortho-alkylated products can be made to predominate. Eor the preparation of the 2,6-substituted products, aluminum phenoxides generated in situ from the phenol being alkylated are used as catalyst. Reaction conditions are controlled to minimise formation of the thermodynamically favored 4-substituted products (see Alkylphenols). The most commonly used is -/ fZ-butylphenol [98-54-4] for manufacture of phenoHc resins. The tert-huty group leaves only two rather than three active sites for condensation with formaldehyde and thus modifies the characteristics of the resin. 

It is also hypothesized that formation of 2-benzyl-2-hydroxydihydrobenzofuran-3-ones 6 and 2-arylbenzofuran-3-carboxylic acids 7 are derived from an intramolecular attack of the phenoxide at the P-position. Despite the complex mechanism and multiple products, general trends have emerged through experimental results. If the chalcone lacks a 6 -methoxy group but has a hydroxyl group at the C2 or C4 positions, flavonols are favored. However, if the 6 -methoxy group is present and no hydroxyl substituent is present at C2 or C4 aurones and flavonols are formed. Others have also shown that pH and temperature influence the product distribution. 

In order to rationalize the orr/zo-selectivity observed in the reaction of sodium phenoxide 1 with carbon dioxide, the formation of a complex 3 is assumed. By that complexation the carbon dioxide becomes polarized, and its electrophilic character is increased. Complex 3 is of suitable geometry for reaction with the activated ort/zo-carbon center " ... 

With secondary and tertiary alkyl halides an Ea-elimination is often observed as a side-reaction. As the alkyl halide reactant an iodide is most often employed, since alkyl iodides are more reactive than the corresponding bromides or chlorides. With phenoxides as nucleophiles a C-alkylation can take place as a competing reaction. The ratio of 0-alkylation versus C-alkylation strongly depends on the solvent used. For example reaction of benzylbromide 4 with /3-naphth-oxide 5 in yV,A-dimethylformamide (DMF) as solvent yields almost exclusively the /3-naphthyl benzylether 6, while the reaction in water as solvent leads via intermediate 7 to formation of the C-benzylated product—l-benzyl-2-naphthol 8—as the major product ... 

Unlike the acid-catalyzed ether cleavage reaction discussed in the previous section, which is general to all ethers, the Claisen rearrangement is specific to allyl aryl ethers, Ar—O—CH2CH = CH2. Treatment of a phenoxide ion with 3-bromopropene (allyl bromide) results in a Williamson ether synthesis and formation of an allyl aryl ether. Heating the allyl aryl ether to 200 to 250 °C then effects Claisen rearrangement, leading to an o-allylphenol. The net result is alkylation of the phenol in an ortho position. 

Sodium or potassium phenoxide can be carboxylated regioselectively in the para position in high yield by treatment with sodium or potassium carbonate and carbon monoxide. Carbon-14 labeling showed that it is the carbonate carbon that appears in the p-hydroxybenzoic acid product. The CO is converted to sodium or potassium formate. Carbon monoxide has also been used to carboxylate aromatic rings with palladium compoimds as catalysts. In addition, a palladium-catalyzed reaction has been used directly to prepare acyl fluorides ArH —> ArCOF. ... 

For carbon-carbon bond-formation purposes, S 2 nucleophilic substitutions are frequently used. Simple S 2 nucleophilic substitution reactions are generally slower in aqueous conditions than in aprotic organic solvents. This has been attributed to the solvation of nucleophiles in water. As previously mentioned in Section 5.2, Breslow and co-workers have found that cosolvents such as ethanol increase the solubility of hydrophobic molecules in water and provide interesting results for nucleophilic substitutions (Scheme 6.1). In alkylations of phenoxide ions by benzylic chlorides, S/y2 substitutions can occur both at the phenoxide oxygen and at the ortho and para positions of the ring. In fact, carbon alkylation occurs in water but not in nonpolar organic solvents and it is observed only when the phenoxide has at least one methyl substituent ortho, meta, or para). The effects of phenol substituents and of cosolvents on the rates of the competing alkylation processes... 

Using 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane, the structure of complex (800) (distorted trigonal planar Cu-Cu 6.739 A) was determined. Reactivity with 02 was investigated to demonstrate the formation of trans-l,2-peroxo species.585 As part of their work with copper(I) complexes with 02, the structure of a dicopper(I) complex ((801) distorted tetrahedral 7.04 A), supported by macrocyclic ligand environment, was reported by Comba and co-workers. Tolman and co-workers structurally characterized a three-coordinate copper(I)-phenoxide complex (802) (planar T-shaped) that models the reduced form of GO.587 The copper(I) analogue [Cu(L)][CF3-SO3]-0.43MeOI I (803) of a copper(II) complex (534) was also reported to demonstrate the role of ligand framework conformability in CV /Cu1 redox potentials.434 Wilson and co-workers... 

The stabilisation that can result by delocalisation of a positive or negative charge in an ion, via its n orbitals, can be a potent feature in making the formation of the ion possible in the first place (cf. p. 55). It is, for instance, the stabilisation of the phenoxide anion (23), by delocalisation of its charge via the delocalised n orbitals of the nucleus, that is largely responsible for the acidity of phenol (cf. p. 56) ... 

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