Reagent in Solvent

Chelating reagents in solvent extraction processes the present position. A. W. Ashbrook, Coord. Chem. Rev., 1975,16, 285-307 (74). 

Crown ethers and cryptands can solubilize certain normally insoluble reagents in solvents of low polarity. Problems of cosolubility between reagent and reactant can thus be overcome and the reaction conducted under milder conditions. 

The Eschweiler-Clarke reaction represents a synthetically useful method for the methylation of amines that avoids quatemisation and is easy to scale up. The reaction conserves stereocentres present elsewhere, and has been shown to be possible with less toxic reagents, in solvent-free conditions. 

Rutae herba (1) generates with KOH reagent in solvent system I a band of ten to 12 violet and blue fluorescent zones from R, 0.2 up to the solvent front, Rutarin (Tl) forms a major white-blue fluorescent zone at R,. 0.35. 

CH3)2N]3P0. M.p. 4°C, b.p. 232"C, dielectric constant 30 at 25 C. Can be prepared from dimethylamine and phosphorus oxychloride. Used as an aprotic solvent, similar to liquid ammonia in solvent power but easier to handle. Solvent for organolithium compounds, Grignard reagents and the metals lithium, sodium and potassium (the latter metals give blue solutions). 

Acetone in conjunction with benzene as a solvent is widely employed. With cyclohexanone as the hydrogen acceptor, coupled with toluene or xylene as solvent, the use of higher reaction temperatures is possible and consequently the reaction time is considerably reduced furthermore, the excess of cyclohexanone can be easily separated from the reaction product by steam distillation. At least 0 25 mol of alkoxide per mol of alcohol is used however, since an excess of alkoxide has no detrimental effect 1 to 3 mols of aluminium alkoxide is recommended, particularly as water, either present in the reagents or formed during secondary reactions, will remove an equivalent quantity of the reagent. In the oxidation of steroids 50-200 mols of acetone or 10-20 mols of cyclohexanone are generally employed. 

Accepting, for the moment without further evidence, that the nitro-nium ion formed by heterolysis of nitric acid is the active reagent in the solutions imder discussion, it remains to consider briefly why nitration in such solutions depends on the concentrations of nitric acid to such high powers (fig. 3.1), and why different solvents behave so differently (table 3.2). 

The conversion of acetylenes into acetyl ides, M-C=C-R (M = Li, Na, K, MgBr), by means of alkyllithium or Grignard reagents in organic solvents or by alkali metal amides in liquid ammonia is well documented (for practical examples see ref. 1, for review articles consult inter alia refs. 2-5). 

To correct for all constant method errors, a blank must account for signals due to the reagents and solvent used in the analysis and any bias due to interac-... 

Quantitative Analysis of All llithium Initiator Solutions. Solutions of alkyUithium compounds frequentiy show turbidity associated with the formation of lithium alkoxides by oxidation reactions or lithium hydroxide by reaction with moisture. Although these species contribute to the total basicity of the solution as determined by simple acid titration, they do not react with allyhc and henzylic chlorides or ethylene dibromide rapidly in ether solvents. This difference is the basis for the double titration method of determining the amount of active carbon-bound lithium reagent in a given sample (55,56). Thus the amount of carbon-bound lithium is calculated from the difference between the total amount of base determined by acid titration and the amount of base remaining after the solution reacts with either benzyl chloride, allyl chloride, or ethylene dibromide. 

It should be noted that the highest possible absorption rates will occur under conditions in which the hquid-phase resistance is negligible and the equilibrium back pressure of the gas over the solvent is zero. Such situations would exist, for instance, for NH3 absorption into an acid solution, for SO9 absorption into an alkali solution, for vaporization of water into air, and for H9S absorption from a dilute-gas stream into a strong alkali solution, provided there is a large excess of reagent in solution to consume all the dissolved gas. This is known as the gas-phase mass-transfer limited condition, wrien both the hquid-phase resistance and the back pressure of the gas equal zero. Even when the reaction is sufficiently reversible to allow a small back pres-... 

Chemical tests for particular types of impurities, e.g. for peroxides in aliphatic ethers (with acidified KI), or for water in solvents (quantitatively by the Karl Fischer method, see Fieser and Fieser, Reagents for Organic Synthesis J. Wiley Sons, NY, Vol 1 pp. 353, 528, 1967, Library of Congress Catalog Card No 66-27894). 

Many methods exist for the purification of reagents and solvents. A number of these methods are routinely used in synthetic as well as analytical chemistry and biochemistry. These techniques, outlined below, will be discussed in greater detail in the respective sections in this Chapter. It is important to note that more than one method of purification may need to be implemented in order to obtain compounds of highest purity. 

The data available on the stereochemistry of reduction of steroidal ketones have been obtained largely in the course of synthetic work, rather than in studies devoted specifically to stereochemical problems. As discussed in an earlier section, the proportion of epimers depends on the steric environment of the ketone, the reagent, the solvent and the temperature. These factors will be discussed below. 

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