Preparation of 1,2-Glycols

Symmetrical 1,2-glycols, known as pinacols, are prepared by bimolecular reduction of aldehydes or ketones. 

Problem 14.35 What compounds would you use to prepare 2,3-diphenyl-2,3-butanediol, 

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Compound 22 can be conveniently prepared in multigram quantities and has been found to be useful for assessing the enantiomeric purity of 1,2-glycols. Because the ketal carbon represents a new chiral center, the formation of four diastereomers is possible. However, the diastereomeric pair 23a and 23b (or 23c and 23d) shows 1 1 peak height in 13C NMR or equal peak areas in HPLC the diastereomer composition measured by the ratio of 23a to 23b or 23c to 23d reflects the enantiomer composition of the original 1,2-glycol. 

KUHN-WINTERSTEIN REACTION. Conversion of 1,2 glycols into trans olefins by reaction with diphosphotetraiodide (P2I4) or other halogenated reagents. This reaction is useful in the preparation of polyenes. 

Cobalt(II) salts are effective catalysts for the oxidation of 1,2-glycols with molecular oxygen in aprotic polar solvents such as pyridine, 4-cyanopyridine, benzonitrile, DMF, anisole, chlorobenzene and sulfolane. Water, primary alcohols, fatty acids and nitrobenzene are not suitable as solvents. Aldehydic products are further oxidized under the reaction conditions. Thus, the oxidative fission of rram-cyclo-hexane-l,2-diol gives a mixture of aldehydes and acids. However, the method is of value in the preparation of carboxylic acids from vicinal diols on an industrial scale for example, decane-1,2-diol is cleaved by oxygen, catalyzed by cobalt(II) laurate, to produce nonanoic acid in 70% yield. ... 

The end-groups and in-chain defects in poly(vinyl alcohol) have been studied thoroughly.133-138 The number of 1,2-glycol units can be determined by 13 136-138 ancj i jj nmR138 spectroscopy. The 1,2-glycol unit at the chain end is distinguished from that in the chain by the 500-MHz 3H NMR spectrum. The analysis for the polymer obtained from poly(vinyl acetate) prepared at 60°C indicates that the contents of the end-chain and in-chain 1,2-glycol units are 0.06 and 1.7 mol %. This means that chain transfer from the primary radicals occurs every 50 times of head addition.135... 

Co(ll) salts are catalysts for cleavage of 1,2-glycols with O2 in aprotic, polar solvents the yields of aldehydes are good. The method is adaptable to preparation of acids without isolation of the intermediate aldehydes. 

Reinhoudt, Gray, Smit and Veenstra prepared a number of monomer and dimer crowns based on a variety of substituted xylylene units. They first conducted the reaction of 1,2-dibromomethylbenzene and a polyethylene glycol with sodium hydride or potassium Z-butoxide in toluene solution. Mixtures of the 1 1 and 2 2 (monomer and dimer) products were isolated and some polymer was formed . The reaction was conducted at temperatures from 30—60° and appeared to be complete in a maximum of one hour. The authors noted that the highest yield of 1 1 cyclic product was obtained with disodium tetraethylene glycolate instead of dipotassium hexaethylene gly-colate (see also Chap. 2) . Chloromethylation of 1,3-benzodioxole followed by reaction with disodium tetraethylene glycolate afforded the macrocycle (29% yield) illustrated in Eq. (3.20). 

Cyclohexadiene has been prepared by dehydration of cyclohexen-3-ol,3 by pyrolysis at 540° of the diacetate of cyclohexane-1,2-diol,4 by dehydrobromination with quinoline of 3-hromocyclohexene,6 by treating the ethyl ether of cyclohexen-3-ol with potassium bisulfatc,6 7 by heating cyclohexene oxide with phthalic anhydride,8 by treating cyclohexane-1,2-diol with concentrated sulfuric acid,9 by treatment of 1,2-dibromocyclo-hexane with tributylamine,10 with sodium hydroxide in ethylene glycol,10 and with quinoline,6 and by treatment of 3,6-dibromo-cyclohexene with sodium.6... 

Polymers usually are prepared by two different types of polymerization reactions — addition and condensation. In addition polymerization all of the atoms of the monomer molecules become part of the polymer in condensation polymerization some of the atoms of the monomer are split off in the reaction as water, alcohol, ammonia, or carbon dioxide, and so on. Some polymers can be formed either by addition or condensation reactions. An example is polyethylene glycol, which, in principle, can form either by dehydration of 1,2-ethanediol (ethylene glycol), which is condensation, or by addition polymerization of oxacyclopropane (ethylene oxide) 1... 

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