Preparation esters from alkyl halides

Hoerold, S., Weferling, N., and Breuer, H.-R, Preparation of phosphonic acid esters from alkyl halides and elemental phosphorus, and their use, Ger. DE 19,828,861, 2 Dec. 1999 Chem. Abstr., 132, 12410r, 2000. 

Vanhoye and coworkers [402] synthesized aldehydes by using the electrogenerated radical anion of iron pentacarbonyl to reduce iodoethane and benzyl bromide in the presence of carbon monoxide. Esters can be prepared catalytically from alkyl halides and alcohols in the presence of iron pentacarbonyl [403]. Yoshida and coworkers reduced mixtures of organic halides and iron pentacarbonyl and then introduced an electrophile to obtain carbonyl compounds [404] and converted alkyl halides into aldehydes by using iron pentacarbonyl as a catalyst [405,406]. Finally, a review by Torii [407] provides references to additional papers that deal with catalytic processes involving complexes of nickel, cobalt, iron, palladium, rhodium, platinum, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, manganese, rhenium, tin, lead, zinc, mercury, and titanium. 

This reaction sequence is called the acetoacetic ester synthesis. It is a standard procedure for the preparation of ketones from alkyl halides, as the conversion of 1-bromobutane to 2-heptanone illustrates. 

Notable examples of general synthetic procedures in Volume 47 include the synthesis of aromatic aldehydes (from dichloro-methyl methyl ether), aliphatic aldehydes (from alkyl halides and trimethylamine oxide and by oxidation of alcohols using dimethyl sulfoxide, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, and pyridinum trifluoro-acetate the latter method is particularly useful since the conditions are so mild), carbethoxycycloalkanones (from sodium hydride, diethyl carbonate, and the cycloalkanone), m-dialkylbenzenes (from the />-isomer by isomerization with hydrogen fluoride and boron trifluoride), and the deamination of amines (by conversion to the nitrosoamide and thermolysis to the ester). Other general methods are represented by the synthesis of 1 J-difluoroolefins (from sodium chlorodifluoroacetate, triphenyl phosphine, and an aldehyde or ketone), the nitration of aromatic rings (with ni-tronium tetrafluoroborate), the reductive methylation of aromatic nitro compounds (with formaldehyde and hydrogen), the synthesis of dialkyl ketones (from carboxylic acids and iron powder), and the preparation of 1-substituted cyclopropanols (from the condensation of a 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol derivative and ethyl-... 

Strictly speaking the alkyl halides are esters of the halogen acids, but since they enter into many reactions (e.g., formation of Grignard reagents, reaction with potassium cyanide to yield nitriles, etc.) which cannot be brought about by the other esters, the alkyl halides are usually distinguished from the esters of the other inorganic acids. The preparation of a number of these is described below. 

The target is now cyclopentanol. Alcohols can be prepared from alkyl halides by reaction with hydroxide ion as the nucleophile. Again, however, the combination of a strongly basic nucleophile and a secondary alkyl halide will result in an unacceptable amount of elimination. A better plan is to treat bromocyclopentane with acetate ion in an aprotic solvent such as DM SO. followed by cleavage of the ester to cyclopentanol ... 

Many high-molecular-weight branched acids are best prepared from alkyl halides by this method. Monoalkylation of malonic ester proceeds readily (75 90%) with primary and some secondary halides. The second hydrogen atom may be replaced by an alkyl group in 60-85% yield. Even a-naphthylmalonic ester may be further alkylated in 55-80% yields when R equals CHj to Excess malonic ester favors the formation of... 

Sodium sulfhydride (NaSH) is a much better reagent for the formation of thiols (mercaptans) from alkyl halides than H2S and is used much more often. It is easily prepared by bubbling H2S into an alkaline solution, but hydrosulfide on a supported polymer resin has also been used. " The reaction is most useful for primary halides. Secondary substrates give much lower yields, and the reaction fails completely for tertiary halides because elimination predominates. Sulfuric and sulfonic esters can be used instead of halides. Thioethers (RSR) are often side products. The conversion can also be accomplished under neutral conditions by treatment of a primary halide with F and a tin sulfide, such as PhsSnSSnPhs. An indirect method for the preparation of a thiol is the reaction of an alkyl halide with thiourea to give an isothiuronium salt (119), and subsequent treatment with alkali or a... 

Trimethylsilyl esters of dialkyIphosphinic acids have been prepared from alkyl halides and bis(trimethylsilyl) phosphonite in the presence of Me SiCl-Et N final ethanolysis gave the free... 

Trimethylsilyl esters of both functionalized and non-functionalized phosphinic acids, R2P(0)0SiMc3, have been prepared from the respective alkyl halides and bis(trimethylsi-lyl) alkylphosphonites, RP(OSiMe3)2, (Michaelis-Arbuzov alkylation) as part of a novel sequence in which the latter are obtained in situ from alkyl halides and bis(trimethylsilyl) hypoghosphite [HP(OSiMe3)2] in the presence of Et3N (Michaelis-Becker-like alkyla-... 

In both SnI and Sn2 reactions, the leaving group is the halogen of an alkyl halide or the sulfonate group of a sulfonate ester. Both alkyl halides and sulfonate esters are prepared from alcohols. In Chapter 10, alcohols were prepared by the hydration reaction of alkenes, by oxymercuration-demercuration of alk-enes, or by hydroboration of alkenes. Other methods can be used to prepare alcohols, and they will be discussed at a later time. This section will describe several of the reactions used to convert alcohols to halides or sulfonate esters. 

This chapter will discuss carbanion-like reactions that utilize enolate anions. The acid-base reactions used to form enolate anions will be discussed. Formation of enolate anions from aldehyde, ketones, and esters will lead to substitution reactions, acyl addition reactions, and acyl substitution reactions. Several classical named reactions that arise from these three fundamental reactions of enolate anions are presented. In addition, phosphonium salts wiU be prepared from alkyl halides and converted to ylids, which react with aldehydes or ketones to form alkenes. These ylids are treated as phosphorus-stabilized car-banions in terms of their reactivity. 

More conveniently, ureas 812 can be synthesized by reaction of amines with carbamate esters 811 prepared from alkyl halides and carbon dioxide in the presence of bases, as described in Section 4.3.2.10 [286]. 

The preparation of amines and quaternary ammonium salts through displacement of halide ion from alkyl halides by ammonia or amines is commonly referred to as alkylation of ammonia (or amines) alkyl esters of other strong acids have also been used in similar alkylation procedures. Equations (19) to (22) represent in simple terms the sequence of reactions which may occur in the interaction of ammonia or an amine with an alkyl halide. 

The lithiated oxathiolan dioxide (19) has been used as a carbonyl anion equivalent to give high yields of aldehydes from alkyl halides and acyloins from cyclic ketones.The /8-acyl anion equivalent (20 X = Li), which can be prepared from the stannylated diene (20 X = SnRs) by metal exchange, reacts with a variety of electrophiles (E ) to give dienes (20 X = E) in good to excellent yields.The thiophosphate (21) gives a,/3-unsaturated esters in 48—68% yield... 

An advantage that sulfonate esters have over alkyl halides is that their prepara tion from alcohols does not involve any of the bonds to carbon The alcohol oxygen becomes the oxygen that connects the alkyl group to the sulfonyl group Thus the configuration of a sulfonate ester is exactly the same as that of the alcohol from which It was prepared If we wish to study the stereochemistry of nucleophilic substitution m an optically active substrate for example we know that a tosylate ester will have the same configuration and the same optical purity as the alcohol from which it was prepared... 

Sulfonate esters are especially useful substrates in nucleophilic substitution reactions used in synthesis. They have a high level of reactivity, and, unlike alkyl halides, they can be prepared from alcohols by reactions that do not directly involve bonds to the carbon atom imdeigoing substitution. The latter aspect is particularly important in cases in which the stereochemical and structural integrity of the reactant must be maintained. Sulfonate esters are usually prepared by reaction of an alcohol with a sulfonyl halide in the presence of pyridine ... 

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