Preparation furans from /3,7-unsaturated

As illustrations of the variety of methods available, the three processes below show (i) the addition of isonitrile anions to a,P-unsaturated nitro-compounds, with loss of nitrous acid to bring about aromatisation, (ii) the interaction of thioglycolates with 1,3-dicarbonyl-compounds, for the synthesis of thiophene 2-esters, and (iii) the cycloaddition/cycloreversion preparation of furans from oxazoles. 

Aroyl enol esters are efficiently prepared by the photosensitized oxidation of furans. aP-Unsaturated-y-keto-esters (106) are obtained (in 61 to 85 % overall yield) from the cyclopropyl esters (105) (Scheme 59). ... 

The unsaturated tetraoxaquaterene (accompanied by linear condensation products) was first synthesized in 18.5% yield by the acid-catalyzed condensation of furan with acetone in the absence of added lithium salts. Other ketones also condensed with furan to give analogous products in 6-12% yield.A corresponding macrocycle was also prepared in 9% yield from pyrrole and cyclohexanone. The macrocyclic ether products have also been obtained by condensation of short linear condensation products having 2, 3, or 4 furan rings with a carbonyl compound. ... 

Many examples of natural furans are recorded as having been prepared from five-membered heterocycles such as 2(5H)-furanones (butenolides), which are reduced to furans with diisobutylaluminum hydride. The facile elimination of selenoxides derived from a-phenylseleneyl-y-lactones with formation of endocyclic a,/3-unsaturated butenolides is reported (75JOC542) as a useful route to 2,4- and 2,3,4-substituted furans via their corresponding butenolides. The mixture of dihydrofurans obtained from the tosylhydrazone of tetrahydro-2-furanone (Scheme 88) was oxidized to furans by 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-l,4-benzoquinone (66CJC1083). 

Further cycloaddition reactions of silylenes generated by the photolysis of cyclotrisilanes have been published since Weidenbruch and coworkers summarized these reactions in an excellent review. Different siliranes were prepared by [2+1]-cycloaddition of di-t-butylsilylene to various alkenes and dienes (Scheme 6)46. Quite interesting results are obtained from the photolysis of hexa-i-butylcyclotrisilane in the presence of unsaturated five-membered ring compounds47 (Scheme 7). With cyclopentadiene and furane, [4 + 2]-cycloaddition of the photolytically generated disilene occurs only as a side reaction. Furthermore, [2 + 1]-cycloaddition of the intermediately formed silylene is highly favored and siliranes are primarily obtained. A totally different course is observed for the reaction in the presence of thiophene. The disilene abstracts the sulfur atom with the formation of the 1,2-disilathiirane as the major product with an extremely short Si—Si distance of 230.49 pm. 

Furoic acid (furan-2-carboxylic acid, or pyromucic acid) is used as a bactericide, and the furoate esters are used as flavoring agents, as antibiotic and corticosteroid intermediates. It is obtained by the enzymatic or chemical/catalytic aerobial oxidation of furfural (2-furalaldehyde) the latter is the only unsaturated large-volume organic chemical prepared from carbohydrates today. D-Xylose and L-ara-binose, the pentoses contained in the xylan-rich portion of hemicelluloses from agricultural and forestry wastes, under the conditions used for hydrolysis undergo dehydration to furfural. 

An illustration of the potential value of 2,3-unsaturated furanoid compounds, particularly in nucleoside synthesis, is the preparation, by way of an epoxy intermediate, of a crystalline compound claimed to be ethyl 3-amino-3-deoxy-DL-arabinofuranoside from racemic 2-eth-oxy-2,5-dihydro-5-(tetrahydropyranyloxymethyl)furan (41, R = OEt,... 

The methods of synthesis for bis(perfluoroalkyl)furans are more developed. For example, 2-methyl-3,4-bis(trifluoromethyl)furan can be synthesized by the reaction of 2-methyl-furan-3,4-dicarboxylic with sulfur tetrafluoride. However, the main synthetic methods rely on the use of unsaturated fluorine-containing acyclic compounds. So, 3-trifluoromethylfurans 57 were prepared from p,p-bis(trifluoro-methyl)a,p-unsaturated ketones and tin(II) chloride. ... 

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