Solvent-free condition

Several advantages are associated with the use of a solvent-free system over the use of organic solvent. These include 

There is no reaction media to collect, dispose of, or purify and recycle. 

On a laboratory s preparative scale, there is often no need for specialized equipment. 

Extensive and expensive purification procedures such as chromatography can often be avoided due to the formation of sufficiently pure compounds. 

Reaction times can be rapid, often with increased yields and 

SCHEME 8.26 Passerini 3CR under solvent-free conditions. 

The authors also proved the possibility of recycling and reuse these solvents, observing similar yields after five runs. For this propose, the products were extracted from the ionic liquids using diethyl ether as immiscible solvent. The remaining ionic liquids were reused after to dry it by heating under vacuum for 30 min. This strategy is a green example of Passerini protocol. 

This work is significant because is an efficient, atom-economic, and environmentally benign Passerini protocol 

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An alternative hexafluorobenzene process features exchange fluorination (KF) of hexachlorobenzene in the presence of polar solvents (226,249) or under solvent-free conditions (450—540°C, autoclave) (250). Intermediates such as chloropentafluorobenzene can be further fluorinated to hexafluorobenzene (42—51% yield) by cesium fluoride in sulfolane (226,249). 

Triduoropyriaiidiae can be prepared ia 85% yield from 2,4,6-trichloropyrioiidiae [3764-01-0] and potassium fluoride ia sulfolane or solvent-free conditions (458,459). Derivatives such as l,l,l-trichloro-3-[5-(2,4,6-trifluoropyrimidyl)]-3,4-epoxybutane [121058-68-2] have been prepared as potential herbicides (460). 

Gupta et al. reported that the Vilsmeier-Haack cyclisation of acetanilides 20 using supported reagents and microwave-irradiation in solvent-free conditions is rapid and efficient. Reaction yields are good, although only a few activated derivatives have been investigated. 

Jacobsen subsequently reported a practical and efficient method for promoting the highly enantioselective addition of TMSN3 to meso-epoxides (Scheme 7.3) [4]. The chiral (salen)Cl-Cl catalyst 2 is available commercially and is bench-stable. Other practical advantages of the system include the mild reaction conditions, tolerance of some Lewis basic functional groups, catalyst recyclability (up to 10 times at 1 mol% with no loss in activity or enantioselectivity), and amenability to use under solvent-free conditions. Song later demonstrated that the reaction could be performed in room temperature ionic liquids, such as l-butyl-3-methylimidazo-lium salts. Extraction of the product mixture with hexane allowed catalyst recycling and product isolation without recourse to distillation (Scheme 7.4) [5]. 

A great acceleration was also observed in the cycloadditions of alkylidene derivatives of 5-iminopyrazoles with nitroalkenes, as electron-poor dienophiles, under MW-irradiation in solvent-free conditions [40c]. Some results are illustrated in Scheme 4.10. All the reactions took place with loss of HNO2 and/or NHMei after the cycloaddition, inducing aromatization of the final product. 

Diels-Alder reactions of vinylpyrazoles 45 and 46 only occur with highly reactive dienophiles under severe conditions (8-10 atm, 120-140 °C, several days). MW irradiation in solvent-free conditions also has a beneficial effect [40b] on the reaction time (Scheme 4.11). The indazole 48, present in large amounts in the cycloaddition of 45 with dimethylacetylenedicarboxylate, is the result of an ene reaction of primary Diels-Alder adduct with a second molecule of dienophile followed by two [l,3]-sigmatropic hydrogen shifts [42]. The MW-assisted cycloaddition of 46 with the poorly reactive dienophile ethylphenyl-propiolate (Scheme 4.11) is significant under the classical thermal reaction conditions (140 °C, 6d) only polymerization or decomposition products were detected. 

The synthesis of 4-unsubstituted DHPs in a focused microwave reactor has been reported using alkyl acetoacetates and hexamethylenetetramine 19 as the source of both formaldehyde and ammonia, with additional ammonium acetate to maintain the stoichiometry [57], Irradiation for 100 s under solvent-free conditions gave, for example, 1,4-DHP 20 in 63% isolated yield (Scheme 5). 

This transformation can also be carried out under solvent-free conditions in a domestic oven using acidic alumina and ammoniiun acetate, with or without a primary amine, to give 2,4,5-trisubstituted or 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazoles, respectively (Scheme 15A) [69]. The automated microwave-assisted synthesis of a library of 2,4,5-triarylimidazoles from the corresponding keto-oxime has been carried out by irradiation at 200 ° C in acetic acid in the presence of ammonium acetate (Scheme 15B) [70]. Under these conditions, thermally induced in situ N - O reduction occurs upon microwave irradiation, to give a diverse set of trisubstituted imidazoles in moderate yield. Parallel synthesis of a 24-membered library of substituted 4(5)-sulfanyl-lff-imidazoles 40 has been achieved by adding an alkyl bromide and base to the reaction of a 2-oxo-thioacetamide, aldehyde and ammonium acetate (Scheme 15C) [71]. Under microwave-assisted conditions, library generation time was dramatically re-... 

Fewer procedures have been explored recently for the synthesis of simple six-membered heterocycles by microwave-assisted MCRs. Libraries of 3,5,6-trisubstituted 2-pyridones have been prepared by the rapid solution phase three-component condensation of CH-acidic carbonyl compounds 44, NJ -dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal 45 and methylene active nitriles 47 imder microwave irradiation [77]. In this one-pot, two-step process for the synthesis of simple pyridones, initial condensation between 44 and 45 under solvent-free conditions was facilitated in 5 -10 min at either ambient temperature or 100 ° C by microwave irradiation, depending upon the CH-acidic carbonyl compound 44 used, to give enamine intermediate 46 (Scheme 19). Addition of the nitrile 47 and catalytic piperidine, and irradiation at 100 °C for 5 min, gave a library of 2-pyridones 48 in reasonable overall yield and high individual purities. 

Tetrasubstituted pyrroles were also obtained in a coupled domino process carried out under solvent-free conditions on silica gel (Scheme 9). The process involved the transformation of the alkynoate 27 into the 1,3-oxazoUdine 28 that could be further rearranged (through loss of one molecule of water)... 

The synthesis of imidazoles is another reaction where the assistance of microwaves has been intensely investigated. Apart from the first synthesis described since 1995 [40-42], recently a combinatorial synthesis of 2,4,5-trisubstituted and 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazoles has been described on inorganic solid support imder solvent-free conditions [43]. Different aldehydes and 1,2 dicarbonyl compounds 42 (mainly benzil and analogues) were reacted in the presence of ammonium acetate to give the trisubstituted ring 43. When a primary amine was added to the mixture, the tetrasubstituted imidazoles were obtained (Scheme 13). The reaction was done by adsorption of the reagent on a solid support, such as silica gel, alumina, montmorillonite KIO, bentonite or alumina followed by microwave irradiation for 20 min in an open vial (multimode reactor). The authors observed that when a non-acid support was used, addition of acetic acid was necessary to obtain good yields of the products. 

Triazoles have been obtained via microwave-assisted [3-i-2] cycloaddition, under solvent-free conditions [54], starting from organic azides and acetylenic amides at 55 °C for 30 min (Scheme 23). The complete conversion of the reagents into AT-substituted-1,2,3-triazoles 69 was achieved without decomposition and side products. A control reaction carried out at the same temperature in an oil bath did not give the cycHc products, not even after 24 h of reaction time. 

Spiro-(indoline-isoxazolidines) 137, exhibiting interesting biological activities, were prepared in modest yields, by the cycloaddition reaction between ethyl (3-indolylidene)-acetate 135 and various substituted a,N-diphenylnitrones 136 under solvent-free conditions (Scheme 48). The reaction conducted under conventional heating in an oil bath did not proceed even after 20 h, especially when it was carried out without solvent [87]. 

Several syntheses of annulated uracils of biological value were recently reported. The key reaction was a microwave-assisted one-pot [4 -i- 2] cycloaddition of oxazino[4,5-d]-, pyrano-[2,3-d]-, pyrido[2,3-dj- and pyrimido[4,5-djpyrimidines, in the sohd state [134] and under solvent-free conditions [135]. The synthetic approach was based on the reaction of NJ -di-methyl-5-formylbarbituric acid 208 with maleimide in the sohd state for 5 min under microwave irradiation at 120 °C to give the pyrano[2,3-d]pyrimi-dine derivative 209 in 90% yield (Scheme 76). The reaction of 208 with phenyl isocyanate under microwave irradiation in the absence of solvent... 

The condensation between enaminones and cyanoacetamide is a well-established method for the synthesis of 2-pyridones (see c, Scheme 2, Sect. 2.1), and the use of malonodinitrile instead of the amide component has also been shown to yield 2-pyridones [39-41]. Recently, Gorobets et al. developed a microwave-assisted modification of this reaction suitable for combinatorial synthesis, as they set out to synthesize a small library of compounds containing a 2-pyridone scaffold substituted at the 3, 5, and 6-positions [42]. The 2-pyridones were prepared by a three-component, two-step reaction where eight different carbonyl building blocks were reacted with N,N-dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (DMFDMA) to yield enaminones 7 (Fig. 2). The reactions were performed under solvent-free conditions at el-... 

The catalytic activiti of the dimer catalyst lb for HKR of the diverse and valuable racemic terminal epoxides are shown in Table 1. Due to high selectivity factor (krei values) every epoxide underwent resolution in excellent yield and high ee % employing 0.2-0.5 mol% of catalyst in solvent free condition in most of the cases. In a similar condition, catalyst la loading per [Co] basis gives < 25% ee and < 10% isolated products. 

A similar steric effect was observed in the reaction of benzyl carboxylate (44). When 44a-d were treated with Bu OK under solvent-free conditions at around 100 °C for 30 min, the corresponding condensation products 45a (75%), 45b (66%), 45c (64%), and 45d (84%) were obtained in the yields indicated [9] (Scheme 6). When the same reactions of 44a-d and Bu OH were carried out in toluene under reflux for 16 h, no condensation product was obtained and 44a-d were recovered unchanged. In solution reactions, exchange of the alkoxy group occurs among the substrate, reagent, and solvent. Therefore, the alkoxy groups of the ester, metal alkoxide, and alcohol used as a solvent should be identical. 

The cross-condensation reaction of benzyl benzoate (46) and 44 was carried out under solvent-free conditions. Treatment of a 1 1 mixture of 46 and 44a with Bu OK at 120 °C for 1 h gave the cross-condensed product 47a in 42% yield (Scheme 7). Similar reaction of 46 with 44b gave 47b in 45% yield. Because heating of46,44, and Bu OK in toluene under reflux for 16 h did not give any product, it is clear that the solvent-free reaction is again effective for the cross-condensation. In these cases, self-condensation of 44 itself did not occur probably because of the high reactivity of 46 [9]. 

It has been established that Thorpe reactions proceed efficiently under solvent-free conditions. For example, when a mixture of acetonitrile (71) and powdered Bu OK was kept at room temperature overnight, a 1 1 mixture of (E)- and (Z)-... 

The intramolecular Thorpe reaction can also be carried out under solvent-free conditions. When a mixture of powdered adiponitrile (80) and Bu OK was kept at room temperature for 3 h, cyclization product 81 was obtained as a... 

In order to clarify the reason why the Rap-Stoermer reaction proceeds so efficiently under solvent-free conditions, the K2C03-assisted reaction of 89a and 90a was studied by IR spectral monitoring in Nujol mulls [ 16]. Firstly, the potassium salt formation of 89a was studied (Scheme 16). One minute after mixing of 89a with twice the molar amount of K2CO3, a vC=0 absorption band (B) appeared at 1692 cm" (spectrum II in Fig. 1), although 89a itself shows vC=0 absorption (A) at 1664 cm (spectrum I in Fig. 1). After 10 min, B disappeared and a new vC=0 absorption band (C) appeared at 1670 cm (spectrum III in... 

Secondly, the reaction of 89a, 90a, and K2CO3 under solvent-free conditions was monitored by IR spectral measurement. A mixture of 89a, an equimolar amount of 90a, and twice the molar amount of K2CO3 initially showed vC=0 absorption (C) at 1670 cm assigned to the formation of 93 this absorption decreased gradually and new vC=0 absorption bands appeared at 1696 (D) and 1641 cm" (E) (Fig. 2). After 60 min, the C absorption band disappeared and the D and E absorptions increased. After further reaction at 80 °C for 10 min, the D absorption disappeared and only the E absorption remained in the spectrum (VI in Fig. 2). The spectrum VI is identical to that of the final product 91a. The appearance of the D absorption band together with a strong OH absorption band at 3465 cm" suggests production of a ketoalcohol intermediate. 

The catalytic system of Rh(Phebox) and MePl SiH was applied to the coupling of acetone and cinnamates under solvent-free conditions (Scheme 16) [30]. Several cinnamates and crotonates were used as enolate... 

In some cases, no cycloalkylation is observed by the reaction of nitromethane with electron-deficient olefins with cyano and methoxycarbonyl groups. The reaction affords new, highly functionalized cyclohexenes in the presence of catalytic amount of piperidine under solvent-free conditions with focused microwave irradiation (Eq. 7.41).42... 

Microwave irradiation at solvent-free conditions induces pyrazoyl 2-azadienes to undergo Diels-Alder reactions with nitroalkenes, within 5-10 min good yields of pyrazolo[ 3,4-b pyridine s are obtained (see Eq. 8.25).39 Without irradiation the reaction produces only traces of products on classical heating. 

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