Primary alcohols rearrangement

Rearrangements are much less likely under these conditions The acid is much weaker (H3O rather than H2SO4), and there is a good nucleophile around. None of the primary alcohols rearrange. 

Dehydration of alcohols (Sections 5 9-5 13) Dehydra tion requires an acid catalyst the order of reactivity of alcohols IS tertiary > secondary > primary Elimi nation is regioselective and proceeds in the direction that produces the most highly substituted double bond When stereoisomeric alkenes are possible the more stable one is formed in greater amounts An El (elimination unimolecular) mechanism via a carbo cation intermediate is followed with secondary and tertiary alcohols Primary alcohols react by an E2 (elimination bimolecular) mechanism Sometimes elimination is accompanied by rearrangement... 

Unbranched primary alcohols and tertiary alcohols tend to react with hydrogen halides without rearrangement The alkyloxonmm ions from primary alcohols react rap idly with bromide ion for example m an Sn2 process Tertiary alcohols give tertiary alkyl halides because tertiary carbocations are stable and show little tendency to rearrange... 

The reactions of alcohols with hydrogen halides to give alkyl halides (Chapter 4) are nucleophilic substitution reactions of alkyloxonium ions m which water is the leaving group Primary alcohols react by an 8 2 like displacement of water from the alkyloxonium ion by halide Sec ondary and tertiary alcohols give alkyloxonium ions which form carbo cations m an S l like process Rearrangements are possible with secondary alcohols and substitution takes place with predominant but not complete inversion of configuration... 

Esters derived from the primary alcohols are the most stable and those derived from the tertiary alcohols are the least stable. The decomposition temperature is lower in polar solvents, eg, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), with decomposition occurring at 20°C for esters derived from the tertiary alcohols (38). Esters of benzyl xanthic acid yield stilbenes on heating, and those from neopentyl alcohols thermally rearrange to the corresponding dithiol esters (39,40). The dialkyl xanthate esters catalytically rearrange to the dithiol esters with conventional Lewis acids or trifluoroacetic acid (41,42). The esters are also catalytically rearranged to the dithiolesters by pyridine Ai-oxide catalysts (43) ... 

This elimination reaction is the reverse of acid-catalyzed hydration, which was discussed in Section 6.2. Because a carbocation or closely related species is the intermediate, the elimination step would be expected to favor the more substituted alkene as discussed on p. 384. The El mechanism also explains the general trends in relative reactivity. Tertiary alcohols are the most reactive, and reactivity decreases going to secondary and primary alcohols. Also in accord with the El mechanism is the fact that rearranged products are found in cases where a carbocation intermediate would be expected to rearrange ... 

A useful synthesis of allylstannanes from primary alcohols involves conversion of the alcohols into their O-substituted 5-methyl carbonodithioates, thermolysis to effect [3,3] rearrangement to the corresponding 5-substituted 5-methyl carbonodithioates, and treatment with a trialkyl-tin hydride under free-radical conditions to form the allylstannane21. This procedure has been applied to the synthesis of functionalized allylstannanes including (5)-( )-4-(benzyloxy)-2-pen-tenyl(tributyl)stannane22. 

Other sequences that transform primary alcohols to primary amines include (a) conversion of the alcohol to a cyanate, rearrangement to an isocyanate, and hydrolysis,3 and (b) conversion of the alcohol to an -V alkylformamide via the Ritter reaction, followed by hydrolysis.4... 

A related method was applied in the course of synthesis of a precursor of a macrolide antibiotic, protomycinolide IV. The migrating group was an a-trimethylsilylalkenyl group.68 In this procedure, the DiBAlH first reduces the ketone and then, after rearrangement, reduces the aldehyde to a primary alcohol. 

Formation of a Rearranged Alkene During Dehydration of a Primary Alcohol... 

The heteroatom version of the vinylcyclopropane rearrangement serves to facilitate alkaloid construction. Scheme 13 outlines a strategy for the pyrrolizidine alkaloid isoretronecanol 211 90). Use of a carboxaldehyde (i.e. 213) as a synthon for the primary alcohol provides an ability to adjust stereochemistry. It also sets up formation of the pyrrolidine ring bearing the aldehyde by an aldol-type condensation of an enol of the aldehyde onto an imine derived from 214. Because of the lability of such systems, introduction of X=PhS imparts stability. The resultant azacyclopentene translates to an imine 215 using the iminocyclopropane rearrangement methodology. Simple condensation of the primary amine 216 with aldehyde 37a then initiates this... 

The determination of enantiomeric excess (96% ee) of the Claisen rearrangement products 4a and 4b is accomplished by a Mosher 1H NMR analysis of the (R)-O-acetylmandelate esters that are derived from the primary alcohols. For example, 4a is reduced with UAIH4 (1.0 equiv/THF/0°C) followed by esterification of the resulting primary alcohol with (R)-O-acetylmandelic acid (DCC, 1.5 equiv/cat. DMAP/CH2CI2) to afford the mandelate ester in 91% yield (two steps).3... 

Selective protection of the primary alcohol gave 138 (P=TBDMS), which was then esterified with ( )-3-hexenoic acid to produce the key intermediate 139 for cyclization. Ireland ester-enolate Claisen rearrangement and hydrolysis produced a protected hydroxyacid, which, after reduction of the acid and deprotection of the alcohol, yielded meso diol 128 more quickly and efficiently than in the previous synthesis. The meso diol was then converted to the racemate of the lactol pheromone 130 as previously described. 

The metabolite but-3-ene-l,2-diol (10.104, Fig. 10.24) is of particular interest since further oxidation by alcohol dehydrogenase yields reactive products such as a,)3-unsaturated ketones [166] [167], Dehydrogenation of the primary alcoholic group to the a-hydroxyaldehyde followed by fast rearrange-... 

The same process shown in Scheme 88 starting from different 2-substituted oxetanes and using biphenyl as the electron-carrier catalyst under THF reflux has been used to prepare regioselectively substituted primary alcohols. On the other hand, the combination of a DTBB-catalyzed ca 20%) lithiation with triethylaluminium in TFIF at —78 °C has been used for the transformation of strained oxetanes to substituted di- and triquinanes through a rearrangement process . An example is given in Scheme 89 for the transformation of oxetane 299 into the product 302 through radicals 300 and 301. 

Thus, the (R)-glycidol (R)-897 was transformed to ethyl (S)-6-benzyloxy-3-methyl-4(E)-hexenoate (S)-899 via addition of acetylide followed by spontaneous isomerization, stereoselective reduction, and Claisen-Johnson rearrangement. The chiral ester (S)-899 was converted to (R)-4-methyl-6-phenylthiohexanol (R)-902. The primary alcohol (R)-902 was then transformed to the terminal acetylene (R)-904, a common intermediate for the synthesis of carbazoquinocins A (272) and D (275). Chain elongation of (R)-904 by two carbon atoms led to (R)-905, the chiral precursor for carbazoquinocin D (275) (639) (Scheme 5.116). 

The prominent role of alkyl halides in formation of carbon-carbon bonds by nucleophilic substitution was evident in Chapter 1. The most common precursors for alkyl halides are the corresponding alcohols, and a variety of procedures have been developed for this transformation. The choice of an appropriate reagent is usually dictated by the sensitivity of the alcohol and any other functional groups present in the molecule. Unsubstituted primary alcohols can be converted to bromides with hot concentrated hydrobromic acid.4 Alkyl chlorides can be prepared by reaction of primary alcohols with hydrochloric acid-zinc chloride.5 These reactions proceed by an SN2 mechanism, and elimination and rearrangements are not a problem for primary alcohols. Reactions with tertiary alcohols proceed by an SN1 mechanism so these reactions are preparatively useful only when the carbocation intermediate is unlikely to give rise to rearranged product.6 Because of the harsh conditions, these procedures are only applicable to very acid-stable molecules. 

There is a primary alcohol-to-aldehyde step in the synthesis of (+)-batzelladine A, and it was suggested that the oxidation of the primary alcohol (1) with TRAP/ NMO/PMS/CH Cl proceeds through an iminium-Ru alkoxide complex (2), rearranging as in (3)-(4) to give the aldehyde (5) (Fig. 1.13) [101] (a similar mechanism was proposed for the Ru-catalysed oxidative cyanation of tertiary amines [403] cf. 5.1.3.4, Fig. 5.3). 

Alcohols react with hydrogen halides (HX) to give alkyl halides. Primary alcohols undergo Sn2 reactions with HX. Primary alcohols with branching on the P-carbon give rearranged products. The temperature must be kept low to avoid the formation of E2 product. 

Substituted cycloalkenes usually react in the ring and not in the side chain. Internal alkenes with CH2 groups in both allylic positions yield a mixture of isomers, whereas terminal alkenes give primary alcohols as a result of allylic rearrangement. Later studies revealed, however, that the reactivity depends on both the structure of the alkene and reaction conditions.674 675 In alcoholic solutions, for example, racemic products are formed. Geminally disubstituted alkenes may exhibit a reactivity sequence CH > CH2 > CH3.675 676... 

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