Tetralon

A further example is given below illustrating the use of a dibasic anhydride (succinic anhydride) the succinoylation reaction is a valuable one since it leads to aroyl carboxylic acids and ultimately to polynuclear hydrocarbons. This general scheme of synthesis of substituted hydrocarbons through the use of succinic anhydride is sometimes called the Haworth reaction. Thus a-tetralone (see below) may be reduced by the Clemmensen method to tetralin (tetrahydronaphthalene) and the latter converted into naphthalene either catal3d.ically or by means of sulphur or selenium (compare Section, VI,33). 

The preparation of the cyclic ketone a-tetralone possesses a number of interesting features. Succinic anhydride is condensed with pure benzene in the presence of anhydrous aluminium chloride (slightly over two equivalents see 1 above) to yield (3-benzoylpropionlc acid ... 

The Y-phenylbutyric acid is cyclised to a-tetralone by converting it into the acid chloride with thionyl chloride or phosphorus pentachloride and then an intramolecular Friedel and Crafts reaction is carried out ... 

To the cold acid chloride add 175 ml. of pure carbon disulphide, cool in ice, add 30 g, of powdered anhydrous aluminium chloride in one lot, and immediately attach a reflux condenser. When the evolution of hydrogen chloride ceases (about 5 minutes), slowly warm the mixture to the boiling point on a water bath. Reflux for 10 minutes with frequent shaking the reaction is then complete. Cool the reaction mixture to 0°, and decompose the aluminium complex by the cautious addition, with shaking, of 100 g. of crushed ice. Then add 25 ml. of concentrated hydrochloric acid, transfer to a 2 htre round-bottomed flask and steam distil, preferably in the apparatus, depicted in Fig. II, 41, 3 since the a-tetralone is only moderately volatile in steam. The carbon disulphide passes over first, then there is a definite break in the distillation, after whieh the a-tetralone distils completely in about 2 htres of distillate. 

Separate the oil, and extract the aqueous layer with three 100 ml. portiom of benzene. Combine the oil and benzene extracts, dry with anhydrous magnesium sulphate, remove the solvent, and distil the residue under diminished pressure. Collect the a-tetralone at 105-107°/2 mm, (or at 135-137715 mm,). The yield is 23 g. 

With Friedel-Crafts catalysts, butyrolactone reacts with aromatic hydrocarbons. With ben2ene, depending on experimental conditions, either phenylbutyric acid or 1-tetralone can be prepared (162). 

Superacids such as HF-SbF effect cyclo alkylation of aryl alkyl ketones to give tetralone derivatives (58). Tandem iatramolecular cyclo alkylatioas can be achieved when functional groups are located ia close proximity (59). 

In an alternative procedure the acids themselves undergo cyclization cataly2ed by hydrogen fluoride. y-Phenylbutyric acid [36541-31-8] can be cychzed to a-tetralone [29059-07-2] by this method ... 

Substantial amounts of 3,3,6,8-tetramethyl-l-tetralone [5409-55-2] are also formed, most notably ia the vapor-phase process (216). This tetralone has been synthesized from isophorone and mesityl oxide and it can thus be assumed to be a product of these two materials ia the isophorone process (217,218). 

The most important process to produce 1-naphthalenol was developed by Union Carbide and subsequently sold to Rhc ne-Poulenc. It is the oxidation of tetralin, l,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene/719-64-2] in the presence of a transition-metal catalyst, presumably to l-tetralol—1-tetralone by way of the 1-hydroperoxide, and dehydrogenation of the intermediate ie, l-tetralol to 1-tetralone and aromatization of 1-tetralone to 1-naphthalenol, using a noble-metal catalyst (58). 1-Naphthol production in the Western world is around 15 x 10 t/yr, with the United States as the largest producer (52). 

The most recent, and probably most elegant, process for the asymmetric synthesis of (+)-estrone appHes a tandem Claisen rearrangement and intramolecular ene-reaction (Eig. 23). StereochemicaHy pure (185) is synthesized from (2R)-l,2-0-isopropyhdene-3-butanone in an overall yield of 86% in four chemical steps. Heating a toluene solution of (185), enol ether (187), and 2,6-dimethylphenol to 180°C in a sealed tube for 60 h produces (190) in 76% yield after purification. Ozonolysis of (190) followed by base-catalyzed epimerization of the C8a-hydrogen to a C8P-hydrogen (again similar to conversion of (175) to (176)) produces (184) in 46% yield from (190). Aldehyde (184) was converted to 9,11-dehydroestrone methyl ether (177) as discussed above. The overall yield of 9,11-dehydroestrone methyl ether (177) was 17% in five steps from 6-methoxy-l-tetralone (186) and (185) (201). 

Friedel-Crafts Acylation. The Friedel-Crafts acylation procedure is the most important method for preparing aromatic ketones and thein derivatives. Acetyl chloride (acetic anhydride) reacts with benzene ia the presence of aluminum chloride or acid catalysts to produce acetophenone [98-86-2], CgHgO (1-phenylethanone). Benzene can also be condensed with dicarboxyHc acid anhydrides to yield benzoyl derivatives of carboxyHc acids. These benzoyl derivatives are often used for constmcting polycycHc molecules (Haworth reaction). For example, benzene reacts with succinic anhydride ia the presence of aluminum chloride to produce P-benzoylpropionic acid [2051-95-8] which is converted iato a-tetralone [529-34-0] (30). 

The procedure described is an example of a more general synthetic method for the direct conversion of ketones into cyanides. " The reaction has been carried out successfully with acyclic and cyclic aliphatic ketones, including numerous steroidal ketones and aryl-alkyl ketones. The conversion of diaryl or highly hindered ketones such as camphor and )3,j8-dimethyl-a-tetralone requires the use of a more polar solvent. The dimethoxyethane used in the present procedure should be replaced by dimethyl sulfoxide. ... 

Anhydrous hydrogen fluonde is a superior reagent for various cyclizations It converts aryl-substituted diethyl arylmalonates into tetralones in good yields [5] (equation 6)... 

The pyrrolidine enamine of 2-tetralone (177) was converted to l-cyano-2-tetralone, which exists almost entirely in the enolic form (178), by reaction with cyanogen chloride (J23). Reaction of 177 with cyanogen bromide gave N-naphthylpyrrolidine (179), presumably via the unstable bromoenamine (180). The latter observation is in accord with the mode of reaction of the heterocyclic enamine (126) with cyanogen bromide, which resulted in the... 

When the 1-monoximes or dioximes of 4-acetyl-l-tetralones are hydrogenated in the presence of palladium, mixtures of diastereoisomeric 1-aminotetralones are formed. The m-aminoketone isomers readily form dehydrobenzoisoquinuclideines (3,4-disubstituted-1,4-dihydro-1,4-ethano-isoquinolines). Quaternary immonium salts prepared from these bicyclic imines are then converted by bases to bicyclic enamines [2,4-disubstituted-3-alkylidene-1,4-ethano-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines (25)]. 

In the alkylation of enolate anions, a mixture of mono- and polyalky lation produets is usually obtained, and when enolization of a di-a-methylene ketone is possible toward both sides, a mixture of di-a- and a,a -dialkylation products ean be expeeted. Thus the enamine alkylation sequenee beeomes partieularly attractive when eontrolled monoalkylation is imperative beeause of difficulties in separation of a mixture of alkylation produets. One of its first synthetie applications was in the reaetions of /8-tetralones with alkyl halides. Yields in exeess of 80% were usually found 238-243) in these reaetions, which make valuable intermediates for steroid and diterpene syntheses more aecessible. 

Similarly, the method has been applied to the synthesis of five- (244) and seven- (245,246) membered-ring ketone analogs of (0-tetralone. 

Extensions of the enamine alkylation to a-tetralones have also been used (245-248), but product yields were lower, presumably due to steric crowding in a transition state where generation of an imonium salt gives rise to a repulsion between a methylene group on nitrogen and a peri aromatic proton. 

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