Secondary alcohols hydrogenolysis

Hydrogenolysis of propylene oxide yields primary and secondary alcohols as well as the isomeri2ation products of acetone and propionaldehyde. Pd and Pt catalysts favor acetone and 2-propanol formation (83—85). Ni and Cu catalysts favor propionaldehyde and 1-propanol formation (86,87). 

Picolyl ethers are prepared from their chlorides by a Williamson ether synthesis (68-83% yield). Some selectivity for primary versus secondary alcohols can be achieved (ratios = 4.3-4.6 1). They are cleaved electrolytically ( — 1.4 V, 0.5 M HBF4, MeOH, 70% yield). Since picolyl chlorides are unstable as the free base, they must be generated from the hydrochloride prior to use. These derivatives are relatively stable to acid (CF3CO2H, HF/anisole). Cleavage can also be effected by hydrogenolysis in acetic acid. ... 

PdO, cyclohexene, methanol, 30 min for a primary ROH, 90-95% yield. Secondary alcohols require longer times. The primary TBDPS and TIPS groups are cleaved much more slowly (18-21 h). Benzylic TBDMS ethers are cleaved without hydrogenolysis. ... 

Asymmetric hydrogenolysis of epoxides has received relatively little attention despite the utility such processes might hold for the preparation of chiral secondary alcohol products. Chan et al. showed that epoxysuccinate disodium salt was reduced by use of a rhodium norbornadiene catalyst in methanol/water at room temperature to give the corresponding secondary alcohol in 62% ee (Scheme 7.31) [58]. Reduction with D2 afforded a labeled product consistent with direct epoxide C-O bond cleavage and no isomerization to the ketone or enol before reduction. 

Treatment of the elimination product 107 with triethylamine resulted in smooth isomerization of the olefin, to afford the a,p-unsaturated ketone 108. Ally lie oxidation of 108 then generated the secondary alcohol 109 in 72 % yield. The acetonide and silyl ether functions of 109 were cleaved in one reaction to afford a tetraol intermediate that was regioselectively acylated at the secondary alcohol functions, to provide the triacetate 110 in high yield (89 %). Hydrogenolysis of the benzyl ether... 

During studies of the hydrogenolysis and isomerization of the 2-Me-oxa-cycloalkanes on transition metal catalysts, it was found that different metals have different regioselectivities (refs 1,2). On Cu and Ni catalysts, primarily the C-0 bond adjacent to the substituent is split, leading to the formation of a primary alcohol or aldehyde (ref. 3), while on Pt and Pd catalysts mainly the more distant C-0 bond undergoes cleavage (ref. 4) yielding a secondary alcohol or ketone (Scheme 1). 

Onychine (135) was first described as a natural product in 1976, when its isolation from Onychopetalum amazonicum (Annonaceae) was reported (83), and its structure was given as 4-methyl-l-azafluoren-9-one (158) on the basis of elemental analysis and high-resolution MS, as well as UV, IR, and H-NMR spectra. As in all the azafluorenone alkaloids discovered to date, the complex UV spectrum is reminiscent of that of fluoren-9-one, and the H-NMR spectrum clearly indicates the presence of a 2,3-disubstituted 4-methylpyridine moiety. The immediate conclusion, therefore, is that onychine is either l-methyl-4-azafluoren-9-one (135) or 4-methyl-l-azafluoren-9-one (158), which is supported by the spectral properties of the secondary alcohol obtained by reduction of the ketone group and of the acetylation and hydrogenolysis products of this... 

The sodium amalgam (Emde) reduction of vomicine metho salts (CCLIV) in dilute acetic acid gives two products (195, 203) base I, which has structure CCLVII (R = CH3) (202), and base II, the structure of which is not proved (202, 203). Why allylic hydrogenolysis does not occur is not known. Base I is demethylated to a secondary alcohol CCLVII (R = H) (203), which could not be oxidized by the Oppenauer method back to vomicine (202), nor could vomicine be reduced to it. 

Protection of hydroxyl groups (11, 166).- 3.4-Dimethoxybcnzyl ethers are oxidized by DDQ more readily thanp-methoxybenzyl ethers. Moreover, the dimethoxybenzyl ethers of secondary alcohols can be selectively oxidized in the presence of the corresponding ethers of primary alcohols. Benzyl, p-methoxybenzyl, and 3,4-dimethoxybenzyl ethers all undergo hydrogenolysis catalyzed by Pt/C or Pd/C, but selective hydrogenolysis of benzyl ethers is possible with W-2 Raney Ni. 

Primary and secondary alcohols should first be converted into halides or sulfonates, followed with treatment by complex hydrides such as LiAlH4 in order to achieve hydrogenolysis ... 

A potentially useful chemoselective dissolving metal reagent for the reduction of aromatic ketones in the presence of other functional groups is the combination Zn-DMSO and aqueous potassium hydroxide. In three examples (benzophenone, fluorenone and 4-benzoylpyridine), the yields of secondary alcohols were over 90%. Two other ketones (xanthone and thioxanthone) gave mixtures of alcohol and the hydrocarbon obtained by hydrogenolysis of a carbon-oxygen bond. ... 

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