Rearrangement, aryl carboxylate groups

The rearrangement occurs more readily when activating groups (aryl, carboxyl, etc.) are attached to the triple bond. Jacobs [38] reports that a reaction involving adsorption of an acetylenic compound on an active basic surface has led to the practical synthesis of arylallenes, allenyl ethers, allenyl halides, and other substituted allenes. 

The furoxan ring is notably resistant to electrophilic attack and reaction normally takes place at the substituents. Thus aryl groups attached to monocyclic furoxans and the homocyclic ring of benzofuroxans are nitrated and halogenated without disruption of the heterocycle. Reaction with acid is also slow protonation is predicted to occur at N-5 <89KGS1261> and benzofuroxans have pKj, values of ca. 8, similar to those of benzofurazans. Monosubstituted furoxans are, as expected, less stable and can be hydrolyzed to the corresponding carboxylic acid. Treatment of the parent furoxan (3) with concentrated sulfuric acid results in rearrangement to (hydroxyimino)acetonitrile oxide (HON=CHC=N —O ) and subsequent dimerization to bis(hydroxyiminomethyl)furoxan... 

Acyl substituents at the 3- and/or 4-positions result in decreased hydrolytic stability compared with the alkyl and aryl derivatives described above. Despite this constraint most of the usual reactions of the carbonyl group are possible. Aldehydes <9ILA1211> and ketones are oxidized to the carboxylic acid, borohydride reduction affords the expected alcohols, and epoxides are formed on reaction with diazomethane. Oximes and arylhydrazones are formed with hydroxylamine and arylhydrazines, and the products may subsequently undergo monocyclic rearrangement involving the oxadiazole to give the corresponding isomeric furazans and 1,2,3-triazoles (Section 4.05.5.1.4). 

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