Rhenium carboxylates reactions

Reduction of Carboxylic Acids to Alcohols. In addition to the nonsupported catalysts mentioned for the hydrogenation of amides to amines, mthenium and rhenium on alumina can be used to reduce carboxyHc acids to alcohols. The conditions for this reduction are somewhat more severe than for most other hydrogenation reactions and require higher temperatures, >150° C, and pressures, >5 MPa (725 psi) (55). Various solvents can be used including water. 

An pFl-dependent coordination isomerism has been observed for the tumor targeting rhenium(V) 0x0 complex [ReO(DMSA)2] (DMSA = 2,3-mercaptosuccinate). In solution the crystallo-graphically characterized syn,endo-isomQx (87a) slowly isomerizes into the anti- (87b) and the iyn,exo-isomers (87c) which has consequences for the biodistribution of the potential pharmaceutical (Scheme 10). The conversion rate decreases with increasing pH suggesting an acid catalyzed reaction. The syn,exo-comy> ex is favored in alkaline solutions (pH > 8.4) which can be understood in terms of the repulsions between the deprotonated carboxylic groups and the 0x0 ligand. 

Haloform reactions are generally performed with halogens in the presence of hydroxide [251] or directly with hypohalites [252]. Alternative methods affording carboxylic acids from methyl ketones (or other enolizable substrates) include the aerobic oxidation in the presence of a catalytic amount of dinitrobenzene [253] with a base in a dipolar aprotic solvent such as DMF [254] or HMPT (hexamethylphospho-ric triamide) [255, 256] and the use of stoichiometric quantities of hypervalent iodide derivatives [95, 257] or nitrosylpentacyanoferrate [258]. Furthermore, metal catalysts can be used, and systems such as tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the presence of rhenium oxide [259], oxygen in combination with a copper complex [260], heteropolyacids [261] and Mn"/Co" systems [262] were found to be applicable. Finally, aryl ketones are selectively oxidized to aliphatic carboxylic acids by treatment with periodate [81] in the presence of ruthenium trichloride [263]. 

---