Selective methyl ether formation

A study of the reductive cleavage of a series of alkoxymethyl ethers using the glucose backbone shows that, depending on the reagent, excellent selectivity can be obtained for deprotection vs. methyl ether formation for most of the common protective groups. ... 

Transesterification of methyl methacrylate with the appropriate alcohol is often the preferred method of preparing higher alkyl and functional methacrylates. The reaction is driven to completion by the use of excess methyl methacrylate and by removal of the methyl methacrylate—methanol a2eotrope. A variety of catalysts have been used, including acids and bases and transition-metal compounds such as dialkjitin oxides (57), titanium(IV) alkoxides (58), and zirconium acetoacetate (59). The use of the transition-metal catalysts allows reaction under nearly neutral conditions and is therefore more tolerant of sensitive functionality in the ester alcohol moiety. In addition, transition-metal catalysts often exhibit higher selectivities than acidic catalysts, particularly with respect to by-product ether formation. 

Treatment of commercially available and symmetrical 3,4,5-tri-methoxytoluene (37) with iodine, periodic acid, and acetic acid under the conditions of Suzuki19 results in the formation of symmetrical diiodide 38 in 93 % yield. Although only one of these newly introduced iodine atoms is present in intermediate 13, both play an important role in this synthesis. Selective monodemethylation of 38 with boron trichloride furnishes phenol 39 in 53% yield together with 13 % of a regioisomer. Evidently, one of the Lewis-basic iodine substituents coordinates with the Lewis-acidic boron trichloride and directs the cleavage of the adjacent methyl ether... 

Homoallyl ethers or sulfides.1 gem-Methoxy(phenylthio)alkanes (2), prepared by reaction of 1 with alkyl halides, react with allyltributyltin compounds in the presence of a Lewis acid to form either homoallyl methyl ethers or homoallyl phenyl sulfides. Use of BF3 etherate results in selective cleavage of the phenylthio group to provide homoallyl ethers, whereas TiCl effects cleavage of the methoxy group with formation of homoallyl sulfides. 

In the dimerization of isobutene, tertiary-butyl alcohol (TBA, 2-methyl-2-propanol) has a strong role in modifying the selectivity of the reaction to Cg hydrocarbons and limits further oligomerization to C12 and Ci6 hydrocarbons [34]. Also, in the etherification of glycerol with isobutene the addition of TBA has a clear effect on the selectivity and on hydrocarbon distribution. The selectivity to ethers increased and the fraction of the Cu and Ci6 hydrocarbons decreased while the concentration of TBA was increased from 0 to 2.6 mol.%. As a conclusion, the formation of C12 and C16 hydrocarbons can be prevented in two ways either TBA should be added to the reaction mixture or the reaction should be carried out at high temperatures [8]. 

The result of the retrosynthetic analysis of rac-lO is 2-hydroxyphenazine (9) and the terpenoid unit rac-23, which may be linked by ether formation [29]. The rac-23 component can be dissected into the alkyl halide rac-24 and the (E)-vinyl halide 25. A Pd(0)-catalyzed sp -sp coupling reaction is meant to ensure both the reaction of rac-24 and 25 and the ( )-geometry of the C-6, C-7 double bond. Following Negishi, 25 is accessible via carboalumination from alkyne 27, which might be traced back to (E,E)-farnesyl acetone (28). The idea was to produce 9 in accordance with one of the methods reported in the literature, and to obtain rac-24 in a few steps from symmetrical 3-methyl-pentane-1,5-diol (26) by selective functionalization of either of the two hydroxyl groups. 

Examples of catalytic formation of C-C bonds from sp C-H bonds are even more scarce than from sp C-H bonds and, in general, are limited to C-H bonds adjacent to heteroatoms. A remarkable iridium-catalyzed example was reported by the group of Lin [116] the intermolecular oxidative coupling of methyl ethers with TBE to form olefin complexes in the presence of (P Pr3)2lrH5 (29). In their proposed mechanism, the reactive 14e species 38 undergoes oxidative addition of the methyl C-H bond in methyl ethers followed by olefin insertion to generate the intermediate 39. p-hydride elimination affords 35, which can isomerize to products 36 and 37 (Scheme 10). The reaction proceeds under mild condition (50°C) but suffers from poor selectivity as well as low yield (TON of 12 after 24 h). 

Secondary alcohol 11 is first protected as a silyl ether with TBS chloride, after which the terminal double bond is ozonized. The resulting methyl ketone is subsequently converted stereoselectively with a Homer-Wadswonh-Emnions reaction21 into olefin 13. This reaction sequence leads to tram selectivity in the formation of the terminal double bond in 13. 

It seemed prudent that the same ethers be examined in the absence of potentially labile functionality, thus removal of unsaturation in 262 and 263 was considered. Hydrogenation of 259 over Pd/C or Pt was unsuccessful in either case reduction of the peroxide group was problematical. Hydrogenation over Wilkinson s catalyst gave a new product, but with the unsaturation retained. While selective alkene hydrogenation can sometimes be achieved in the presence of a peroxide bond, the double bond of 259 was apparently too hindered in this case. Diimide, on the other hand, worked reasonably well for this reduction. Thus, treatment of 259 in dichlo-romethane solution with potassium azodicarboxylate followed by addition of acetic acid led, after several days, to roughly 60% conversion of 259 to the saturated version, 264. Now, ether formation as before provided the saturated methyl and benzyl ethers 265 and 266, respectively, in good yields. 

The carbon monoxide selectivity was well below 2% for all samples. As a by-product, substantial amounts of dimethyl ether were found for all samples the highest selectivity of 23% was detected over pure ceria. Only traces of another by-product, methyl formate, were measured. The dimethyl ether formation was attributed to separate dehydration of the methanol on the alumina surface. 

Selective complexation of ethers.1 This aluminum reagent shows remarkable selectivity in formation of complexes with ethers. Thus it effects virtually complete complexation of alkyl methyl ethers without effect on alkyl ethyl ethers. In general, ethers with less-hindered alkyl substituents form complexes more easily with MAD than their more bulky counterparts and the more basic etheral oxygens coordinate more readily to MAD than the less basic oxygen. The two bulky phenoxy groups are essential for this selective complexation, since methylaluminium bis(2,6-diisopro-pylphenoxide) does not form complexes with ethers under similar conditions. This selective complexation can be used to separate ethers by chromatography with MAD as the stationary phase. 

The aldimine of Figure 13.34 is a chiral and enantiomerically pure aldehydrazone C. This hydrazone is obtained by condensation of the aldehyde to be alkylated, and an enantiomerically pure hydrazine A, the S-proline derivative iS-aminoprolinol methyl ether (SAMP). The hydrazone C derived from aldehyde A is called the SAMP hydrazone, and the entire reaction sequence of Figure 13.34 is the Enders SAMP alkylation. The reaction of the aldehydrazone C with LDA results in the chemoselective formation of an azaenolate D, as in the case of the analogous aldimine A of Figure 13.33. The C=C double bond of the azaenolate D is fraws-configured. This selectivity is reminiscent of the -preference in the deprotonation of sterically unhindered aliphatic ketones to ketone enolates and, in fact, the origin is the same both deprotonations occur via six-membered ring transition states with chair conformations. The transition state structure with the least steric interactions is preferred in both cases. It is the one that features the C atom in the /3-position of the C,H acid in the pseudo-equatorial orientation. 

The apparent activation energy for the synthesis reaction of methyl tert-butyl ether or MTBE, was found to be 64 KJ/mole. The best activity and selectivity for MTBE were observed at temperatures of 85 - 90 °C, and contact times of circa 2.5 h when the methanol / isobutene molar ratio was kept within the 1.2 - 1.5 range. There was a fierce competition between the ethyl tert-butyl ether formation and that of diethylether at reaction temperatures higher than 85 °C. 

The synthesis of (+)-estrone methyl ether (36) illustrates the enantioselective construction of a polycyclic target by the use of chiral auxiliary control to establish the first cyclic stereogenic center [14], In this case, the specific design of the naphthyldiazoester 32 directed Rh-mediated intramolecular C-H insertion selectively toward one of the two diastereotopic C-H bonds on the target methylene. The new ternary center so created then biased the formation of the adjacent quaternary center in the course of the alkylation. The chiral skew in the product cyclo-pentanone (35) controlled the relative and absolute course of the intramolecular cycloaddition, to give the steroid (+)-estrone methyl ether (36). 

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