Preparation Kolbe reaction

Faraday, in 1834, was the first to encounter Kolbe-electrolysis, when he studied the electrolysis of an aqueous acetate solution [1], However, it was Kolbe, in 1849, who recognized the reaction and applied it to the synthesis of a number of hydrocarbons [2]. Thereby the name of the reaction originated. Later on Wurtz demonstrated that unsymmetrical coupling products could be prepared by coelectrolysis of two different alkanoates [3]. Difficulties in the coupling of dicarboxylic acids were overcome by Crum-Brown and Walker, when they electrolysed the half esters of the diacids instead [4]. This way a simple route to useful long chain l,n-dicarboxylic acids was developed. In some cases the Kolbe dimerization failed and alkenes, alcohols or esters became the main products. The formation of alcohols by anodic oxidation of carboxylates in water was called the Hofer-Moest reaction [5]. Further applications and limitations were afterwards foimd by Fichter [6]. Weedon extensively applied the Kolbe reaction to the synthesis of rare fatty acids and similar natural products [7]. Later on key features of the mechanism were worked out by Eberson [8] and Utley [9] from the point of view of organic chemists and by Conway [10] from the point of view of a physical chemist. In Germany [11], Russia [12], and Japan [13] Kolbe electrolysis of adipic halfesters has been scaled up to a technical process. 

Foreign cations can increasingly lower the yield in the order Fe, Co " < Ca " < Mn < Pb " [22]. This is possibly due to the formation of oxide layers at the anode [42], Alkali and alkaline earth metal ions, alkylammonium ions and also zinc or nickel cations do not effect the Kolbe reaction [40] and are therefore the counterions of choice in preparative applications. Methanol is the best suited solvent for Kolbe electrolysis [7, 43]. Its oxidation is extensively inhibited by the formation of the carboxylate layer. The following electrolytes with methanol as solvent have been used MeOH-sodium carboxylate [44], MeOH—MeONa [45, 46], MeOH—NaOH [47], MeOH—EtsN-pyridine [48]. The yield of the Kolbe dimer decreases in media that contain more than 4% water. 

Correspondingly, 4-acetoxy-2-azetidin-one (102) was prepared from 4-carboxy-2-azetidinone (101) by a non-Kolbe reaction (Eq. 13) [123],... 

Radicals prepared by anodic oxidation of anions or by the Kolbe reactions can couple with other radicals or add to double bonds. For instance in Scheme 2 [4, 5], the... 

This reaction resembles decarboxylation of carboxylates during electrode one-electron oxidation (Kolbe reaction). Kolbe reaction also consists of one-electron oxidation, decarboxylation, and culminates in dimerization of alkyl radicals just after their formation at the electrode surface. When the sulfate radical acts as a one-electron oxidant, the caboradical dimerization is hampered. The radicals can be used in preparative procedures. One typical example is alkylation of heterocyclic nitrogen bases (Minisci et al. 1983). This difference between Kolbe reaction and the reaction with the help of a dissolved electrode (the sulfate radical) deserves some explanation. The concentration of the one-electron oxidation products in the electrode vicinity is significantly higher than that in the bulk of the solution. Therefore, in the case of anode-impelled reactions, the dimerization of radicals produced from carboxylates proceeds easily. Noticeably, 864 secures the single electron nature of oxidation more strictly than an anode. In electrode reactions, radical intermediates can... 

Electrolysis of carboxylate ions, which results in decarboxylation and combination of the resulting radicals, is called the Kolbe reaction. 30 It is used to prepare symmetrical RR, where R is straight- or branched-chained, except that little or no yield is obtained when there is a branching. The reaction is not successful for R = aryl. Many functional groups... 

At a time when the only practicable methods for the preparation of nitromethane were the interaction of methyl iodide with silver nitrite and the Kolbe reaction from chloracetic acid, the explosive was far too expensive to merit consideration. The present cheap and large scale production of nitromethane by the vapor-phase nitration of methane and of ethane has altered the situation profoundly. Trimethylolnitromethane trinitrate is an explosive which can now be produced from coke, air, and natural gas. Nitromethane too has other interest for the manufacturer of explosives. It may be used as a component of liquid explosives, and it yields on reduction methylamine which is needed for the preparation of tetryl. 

In the melt preparation of polycarbonates, the Kolbe reaction can occur [40], leading to chain-branching and crosslinking... 

Kolbe reaction The electrolytic decarboxylative dimerisation of the potassium salts of two carboxylate anions, used to prepare symmetrical R-R alicyclic compounds from RC02 K+. 

In many descriptions of electrochemical preparations of organic substances, only the overall current and voltage applied across the cell have been specified. It must be emphasized that this information is generally inadequate for a proper electrochemical specification of the experimental conditions and a characterization of the reaction mechanism. Under constant current conditions, as consumption of the reactant occurs, the potential normally becomes increased (greater polarization) until eventually some new electrode process becomes predominant (see Section 5.1). This may either be decomposition of the solvent or supporting electrolyte or, in some cases, a further reaction with the substrate involved in the electroorganic preparation. In the latter case, it is clear that the preparation will yield more than one principal product. A classical case, first investigated by Haber, is the electroreduction of nitrobenzene referred to above and also the Kolbe reaction. ... 

The Kolbe and Hofer-Moest reactions are particularly useful transformations that generate, from readily available carboxylic acids, a wide variety of structures bearing varied functionalities and substitution patterns. From the initial preparation of symmetrical dimers, by a C-C radical coupling process (a rather unusual event by itself), the Kolbe reaction has enabled the synthesis of mixed adducts by using two different carboxylic acids as substrates. The intramolecular version provided an efficient entry into 5- and 6-membered carbo- or heterocycles. 

The anodic oxidation of a carboxylic acid in the form of its alkali metal salt is the oldest and still very useful method of preparative organic electrochemistry (Kolbe reaction) ... 

Salicylic acid. The preparation of salicylic acid by passing carbon dioxide into dry sodium phenoxide at 170-190° is the classical example of the Kolbe-Schmltt reaction. The latter is a method for introducing a carboxyl group directly into a phenol nucleus. 

The key compound m the synthesis of aspirin salicylic acid is prepared from phe nol by a process discovered m 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 subse quently acidified to yield salicylic acid... 

The Kolbe-Schmitt reaction has been applied to the preparation of other o hydroxy benzoic acids Alkyl derivatives of phenol behave very much like phenol itself... 

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... 

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). 

A large number of salts of sahcyhc acid have been prepared and evaluated for therapeutic or other commercial use. Table 7 hsts those most frequently referenced. Sodium sahcylate has analgesic, antiinflammatory, and antipyretic activities and was used extensively in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as a remedy, prepared from natural sources, for arthritis and rheumatism. In the 1990s the salt can be obtained directly from Kolbe-Schmitt carboxylation or by the reaction of sahcyhc acid with either aqueous sodium bicarbonate or sodium carbonate. The resulting mixture is heated until effervescence stops the salt is then isolated by filtration and evaporation to dryness at low temperatures. Generally, the solution must be kept slightly acidic so that a white product is obtained if the mixture is basic, a colored product results. The USP product contains 99.5—100.5% NaC H O (anhydrous). The May 1996 price was 8.15/kg (18). 

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