Tertiary alcohol reactions

The reactions of Grignard reagents with aldehydes and ketones give alcohols, reaction with acid chlorides and esters give tertiary alcohols, reaction with carbon dioxide to give carboxylic acids, reaction with nitriles give ketones, and reaction with epoxides give alcohols. 

Tertiary alcohols are more readily dehydrated than secondary alcohols, whilst primary alcohols are dehydrated with comparative difficulty. Thus the reaction proceeds easily with 33 per cent, sulphuric acid (1 acid 2 water, by volume) for amyl alcohol, but 50 per cent, (by volume) is required for aec.-amyl alcohol. Higher concentrations of acid tend to lead to increasing polymerisation of the olefine and are therefore usually avoided. 

The reason for this is that reaction (i) is usually much slower than (ii) and (iii) so that the main reaction appears to be (Iv) (compare the preparation of tertiary butyl chloride from tertiary butyl alcohol and concentrated hydrochloric acid, Section 111,33). If the reaction is carried out in the presence of P3rridine, the latter combines with the hydrogen chloride as it is formed, thus preventing reactions (ii) and (iii), and a good yield of the ester is generally obtained. The differentiation between primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols with the aid of the Lucas reagent is described in Section III,27,(vii). 

The order of reactivity of the hydrogen halides parallels their acidity HI > HBr > HCl >> HF Hydrogen iodide is used infrequently however and the reaction of alco hols with hydrogen fluoride is not a useful method for the preparation of alkyl fluorides Among the various classes of alcohols tertiary alcohols are observed to be the most reactive and primary alcohols the least reactive... 

Tertiary alcohols are converted to alkyl chlorides m high yield within minutes on reaction with hydrogen chloride at room temperature and below... 

It IS important to note that although methyl and primary alcohols react with hydro gen halides by a mechanism that involves fewer steps than the corresponding reactions of secondary and tertiary alcohols fewer steps do not translate to faster reaction rates Remember the order of reactivity of alcohols with hydrogen halides is tertiary > sec ondary > primary > methyl Reaction rate is governed by the activation energy of the slowest step regardless of how many steps there are... 

Because tertiary alcohols are so readily converted to chlorides with hydrogen chlo nde thionyl chlonde is used mainly to prepare pnmary and secondary alkyl chlondes Reactions with thionyl chlonde are normally carried out m the presence of potassium carbonate or the weak organic base pyndme... 

Section 4 9 The potential energy diagrams for separate elementary steps can be merged into a diagram for the overall process The diagram for the reac tion of a secondary or tertiary alcohol with a hydrogen halide is charac terized by two intermediates and three transition states The reaction is classified as a ummolecular nucleophilic substitution, abbreviated as SnI... 

The reactions of alcohols with hydrogen halides to give alkyl halides (Chapter 4) are nucleophilic substitution reactions of alkyloxonium ions m which water is the leaving group Primary alcohols react by an 8 2 like displacement of water from the alkyloxonium ion by halide Sec ondary and tertiary alcohols give alkyloxonium ions which form carbo cations m an S l like process Rearrangements are possible with secondary alcohols and substitution takes place with predominant but not complete inversion of configuration... 

Reaction of Grignard reagents with es ters (Section 14 10) Tertiary alcohols in which two of the substituents on the hy droxyl carbon are the same may be pre pared by the reaction of an ester with two equivalents of a Grignard reagent... 

When applied to the synthesis of ethers the reaction is effective only with primary alcohols Elimination to form alkenes predominates with secondary and tertiary alcohols Diethyl ether is prepared on an industrial scale by heating ethanol with sulfuric acid at 140°C At higher temperatures elimination predominates and ethylene is the major product A mechanism for the formation of diethyl ether is outlined m Figure 15 3 The individual steps of this mechanism are analogous to those seen earlier Nucleophilic attack on a protonated alcohol was encountered m the reaction of primary alcohols with hydrogen halides (Section 4 12) and the nucleophilic properties of alcohols were dis cussed m the context of solvolysis reactions (Section 8 7) Both the first and the last steps are proton transfer reactions between oxygens... 

Olefins add anhydrous acetic acid to give esters, usually of secondary or tertiary alcohols propjiene [115-07-1] yields isopropyl acetate [108-21-4], isobutjiene [115-11-7] gives tert-huty acetate [540-88-5]. Minute amounts of water inhibit the reaction. Unsaturated esters can be prepared by a combined oxidative esterification over a platinum group metal catalyst. Eor example, ethylene-air-acetic acid passed over a palladium—Hthium acetate catalyst yields vinyl acetate. 

With aldehydes, primary alcohols readily form acetals, RCH(OR )2. Acetone also forms acetals (often called ketals), (CH2)2C(OR)2, in an exothermic reaction, but the equiUbrium concentration is small at ambient temperature. However, the methyl acetal of acetone, 2,2-dimethoxypropane [77-76-9] was once made commercially by reaction with methanol at low temperature for use as a gasoline additive (5). Isopropenyl methyl ether [116-11-OJ, useful as a hydroxyl blocking agent in urethane and epoxy polymer chemistry (6), is obtained in good yield by thermal pyrolysis of 2,2-dimethoxypropane. With other primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols, the equiUbrium is progressively less favorable to the formation of ketals, in that order. However, acetals of acetone with other primary and secondary alcohols, and of other ketones, can be made from 2,2-dimethoxypropane by transacetalation procedures (7,8). Because they hydroly2e extensively, ketals of primary and especially secondary alcohols are effective water scavengers. 

Formic acid forms esters with primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols. The high acidity of formic acid makes use of the usual mineral acid catalysts unnecessary in simple esterifications (17). Formic acid reacts with most amines to form formylamino compounds. With certain diamines imida2ole formation occurs, a reaction that has synthetic utiHty (18) ... 

Barbier reported (1) in 1899 that a mixture of methyl iodide, a methyl ketone, and magnesium metal in diethyl ether produced a tertiary alcohol. Detailed studies by his student Victor Grignard are documented in his now classical doctoral thesis, presented in 1901. Grignard estabUshed (2) that the reaction observed by Barbier could be separated into three distinct steps Grignard reagent formation, Grignard reaction, and hydrolysis. 

Moderate yields of acids and ketones can be obtained by paHadium-cataly2ed carbonylation of boronic acids and by carbonylation cross-coupling reactions (272,320,321). In an alternative procedure for the carbonylation reaction, potassium trialkylborohydride ia the presence of a catalytic amount of the free borane is utilized (322). FiaaHy, various tertiary alcohols including hindered and polycycHc stmctures become readily available by oxidation of the organoborane iatermediate produced after migration of three alkyl groups (312,313,323). 

The HQ. formed can lead to secondary reactions, especially with unsaturated or tertiary alcohols. 

Cyanopyiidine (15) reacts with ketones not beating an a-hydiogen in the presence of sodium metal to afford a tertiary alcohol (a precursor of azacydonol) in high yield, eg, the reaction of (15) and benzophenone yields the tertiary benzyl alcohol [1620-30-0] (23) ... 

Alcohols undergo dehydration in supercritical and hot water (41). Tertiary alcohols require no catalyst, but secondary and primary alcohols require an acid catalyst. With 0.01 MH2SO4 as a catalyst, ethanol eliminates water at 385°C and 34.5 MPa to form ethene. Reaction occurs in tens of seconds. Only a small amount of diethyl ether forms as a side reaction. 

Sulfation by sulfamic acid has been used ia the preparation of detergents from dodecyl, oleyl, and other higher alcohols. It is also used ia sulfating phenols and phenol—ethylene oxide condensation products. Secondary alcohols react ia the presence of an amide catalyst, eg, acetamide or urea (24). Pyridine has also been used. Tertiary alcohols do not react. Reactions with phenols yield phenyl ammonium sulfates. These reactions iaclude those of naphthols, cresol, anisole, anethole, pyrocatechol, and hydroquinone. Ammonium aryl sulfates are formed as iatermediates and sulfonates are formed by subsequent rearrangement (25,26). 

The butanols undergo the typical reactions of the simple lower chain aUphatic alcohols. For example, passing the alcohols over various dehydration catalysts at elevated temperatures yields the corresponding butenes. The ease of dehydration increases from primary to tertiary alcohol /-butyl alcohol undergoes dehydration with dilute sulfuric acid at low temperatures in the Hquid phase whereas the other butanols require substantially more stringent conditions. 

Aliphatic Alcohols and Thiols. Ahphatic alcohols on reaction with chloroformates give carbonates and hydrogen chloride. Frequendy, the reaction proceeds at room temperature without a catalyst or hydrogen chloride acceptor. However, faster reactions and better yields are obtained in the presence of alkaU metals or their hydroxides, or tertiary amines. Reactions of chloroformates with thiols yield monothiolocarbonates (14). 

Amino Alcohols. Reaction of chloroformate is much more rapid at the amino group than at the hydroxyl group (4—8). Thus the hydroxy carbamates, which can be cyclized with base to yield 2-oxazoHdones, can be selectively prepared (29). Nonionic detergents may be prepared from poly[(ethylene glycol) bis(chloroformates)] and long-chain tertiary amino alcohols (30). 

However, this method is appHed only when esterification cannot be effected by the usual acid—alcohol reaction because of the higher cost of the anhydrides. The production of cellulose acetate (see Fibers, cellulose esters), phenyl acetate (used in acetaminophen production), and aspirin (acetylsahcyhc acid) (see Salicylic acid) are examples of the large-scale use of acetic anhydride. The speed of acylation is greatiy increased by the use of catalysts (68) such as sulfuric acid, perchloric acid, trifluoroacetic acid, phosphoms pentoxide, 2inc chloride, ferric chloride, sodium acetate, and tertiary amines, eg, 4-dimethylaminopyridine. 

The acid chlorides are generally more reactive than the corresponding acid anhydrides. In fact, the alcoholysis of acid chlorides is probably the best laboratory method for preparing esters. Frequentiy, basic materials are added during the course of the reaction to neutralize by-product hydrochloric acid. When the basic material is aqueous caustic, the procedure is referred to as the Schotten-Baumann procedure (73). Esterification of tertiary alcohols by acid chlorides is described in Reference 74. Esters of tertiary alcohols can also be formed through an intermediate /-butyl thioate group (75) ... 

The reaction of alcohols and acid chlorides in the presence of magnesium has been described (68). With primary and secondary alcohols the reaction is very smooth, and affords high and sometimes quantitative yields. Difficulty esteritiable hydroxy compounds such as tertiary alcohols and phenols can be esteritied by this method. The reaction carried out in ether or benzene is usually very vigorous with evolution of hydrogen. 

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