Syntheses of Carboxylic Esters

In synthetic target molecules esters, lactones, amides, and lactams are the most common carboxylic acid derivatives. In order to synthesize them from carboxylic acids one has generally to produce an activated acid derivative, and an enormous variety of activating reagents is known, mostly developed for peptide syntheses (M. Bodanszky, 1976). In actual syntheses of complex esters and amides, however, only a small selection of these remedies is used, and we shall mention only generally applicable methods. The classic means of activating carboxyl groups arc the acyl azide method of Curtius and the acyl chloride method of Emil Fischer. 

Syntheses of Carboxylic and Carbonic Esters Table 3-3. Esters prepared with ImCOCOIm. 

Imidazolides of aromatic sulfonic acids react much more slowly in alcoholysis reactions than the carboxylic acid imidazolides. Although the reaction with phenols is quantitative when a melt is heated to 100 °C for several hours, with alcohols under these conditions only very slight alcoholysis is observed. In the presence of 0.05 equivalents (catalytic amount) of sodium ethoxide, imidazole sodium, of NaNH2, however, imidazolides of sulfonic acids react with alcohols almost quantitatively and exothermically at room temperature in a very short time to form sulfonic acid esters (sulfonates). (If the ratio of sulfonic acid imidazolide to alcoholate is 1 2, ethers are formed see Chapter 17). The mechanism of catalysis by base corresponds to that operative in the synthesis of carboxylic esters by the imidazolide method. Because of the more pronounced nucleophilic character of alkoxide ions, sulfonates can also be prepared in good yield by alcoholysis of their imidazolides in the presence of hydroxide ions i.e., with alcoholic sodium hydroxide. 45 Examples of syntheses of sulfonates are presented below. 

A number of references cover similar syntheses of allenes with carboxylic acids [131, 139-142] and amides [143] instead of carboxylic esters as electron-withdrawing... 

The syntheses of carboxylic acids and esters are widely studied processes. Since the first examples of carboxylation in the presence of metal carbonyls were reported by Reppe, these reactions are sometimes referred to as the Reppe reactions. In his pioneering work125-127 stoichiometric or catalytic amounts of [Ni(CO)4] and ethylene or acetylene were reacted in the presence of water or alcohols to form saturated and unsaturated acids and esters. Commercial processes are practiced in the manufacture of propionic acid, acrylic acid and acrylates (see Section 7.2.4). 

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