The Williamson Synthesis of Ethers

This method is used in the presence of a basic catalyst to produce both symmetrical and unsymmetrical ethers. The reacting substances in these reactions are alkyl halides and metal alkoxides. By using the correct reactants, desired ethers may be obtained. Metal halide salts are produced as co-products. 

Diethyl ether is the most commonly known ether and is called simply ether in daily life. 

Diethyl ether is a colorless, volatile, flammable liquid with a characteristic pleasant odor. It causes fainting when inhaled, which explains its use as an anaesthetic in medicine. 

Diethyl ether is a good solvent for organic compounds and is also used to remove H20 in organic reactions. 

Diethyl ether is also used both in the Wurtz synthesis and in the preparation of Grignard Reagents. 

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The conversion of chlorohydrins into epoxides by the action of base is an adaptation of the Williamson synthesis of ethers. In the presence of hydroxide ion, a small proportion of the alcohol exists as alkoxide, which displaces the chloride ion from the adjacent carbon atom to produce a cycHc ether (2). 

Treatment of a thiol with a base, such as NaH, gives the corresponding thiolate ion (RS-), which undergoes reaction with a primary or secondary alkyl halide to give a sulfide. The reaction occurs by an Sn2 mechanism, analogous to the Williamson synthesis of ethers (Section 18.2). Thiolate anions are among... 

The application of phase-transfer catalysis to the Williamson synthesis of ethers has been exploited widely and is far superior to any classical method for the synthesis of aliphatic ethers. Probably the first example of the use of a quaternary ammonium salt to promote a nucleophilic substitution reaction is the formation of a benzyl ether using a stoichiometric amount of tetraethylammonium hydroxide [1]. Starks mentions the potential value of the quaternary ammonium catalyst for Williamson synthesis of ethers [2] and its versatility in the synthesis of methyl ethers and other alkyl ethers was soon established [3-5]. The procedure has considerable advantages over the classical Williamson synthesis both in reaction time and yields and is certainly more convenient than the use of diazomethane for the preparation of methyl ethers. Under liquidrliquid two-phase conditions, tertiary and secondary alcohols react less readily than do primary alcohols, and secondary alkyl halides tend to be ineffective. However, reactions which one might expect to be sterically inhibited are successful under phase-transfer catalytic conditions [e.g. 6]. Microwave irradiation and solidrliquid phase-transfer catalytic conditions reduce reaction times considerably [7]. 

This reaction is similar to the Williamson synthesis of ethers (method 115). Otthofotmates in which the alkyl group is methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, and isoamyl have been prepared from chloroform. The yield of ethyl orthoformate is 45%. Mixed esters are obtained from a mixture of sodium alkoxides and chloroform. Benzotrichloride, C,HjCClj, is converted to methyl orthobenzoate in 86% yield by sodium methoxide in methanol, ... 

These ethers are usually formed by the reaction of an alcoholate with an ester of a halogen acid, the reaction being analogous to the Williamson synthesis of ether. 

With the increasing availability of suitable monomers and the desire for polymers having improved heat resistance combined with higher levels of mechanical properties, displacement (or substitution ) reactions have become of increased interest for polycondensation. A suitable example with monofunctional reactants would be the Williamson synthesis of ethers... 

In the laboratory, the Williamson synthesis of ethers is important because of its versatility it can be used to make unsymmetrical ethers as well as symmetrical ethers, and aryl alkyl ethers as well as dialkyl ethers. 

This reaction is usually called the Williamson synthesis of ethers. In a modification of it, the alkyl halide may be replaced by a sulfonic ester or a dialkyl sulfate. 

Even carbowax (a chemically and thermally stable poly(ethylene glycol), when adsorbed on an inorganic salt with no other solid support, may act as a very efficient gas-solid phase-transfer catalyst. This system has been employed, for example, in the Williamson synthesis of ethers and thioethers, starting from alkyl halides and phenols or thiols in the presence of potassium carbonate as a base Gas-solid PTC shows the advantage that pure products are obtained directly, due to the absence of aqueous and organic solvents. 

Additional reactions which need to be highlighted are the reductive alkylation of alcohols and amines with aldehydes leading to the green synthesis of ethers and amines. These reactions are generally catalyzed by palladium [35]. This reaction can replace the classical Williamson s synthesis of ethers which requires an alcohol and an alkyl halide together with a base, and always results in the concomitant production of salt. The choice of Pd/C as catalyst is due to the low efficiency of this metal for the competitive carbonyl reduction. Analysis of the... 

In the presence of sodium hydroxide, thiols react with alkyl halides to form the sulfides (20) the reaction occurs via the sodium thiolate and is analogous to the well-known Williamson synthesis of ethers and can also be applied to obtain unsymmetrical sulfides (Scheme 18). Symmetrical sulfides may be prepared directly by condensation of sodium sulfide with alkyl halides (Scheme 18). These reactions are of the SN2 type, and consequently the optimum yields of sulfides are realised using primary alkyl halides. 

Alkyl-aryl ethers are often synthesized by carefully controlling solubility. Both the alkyl halide and phenol are dissolved in dichloromethane then the solution is mixed with an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide. Phenol, a poor nucleophile, reacts with sodium hydroxide in the aqueous phase to form the phenoxide ion, a good nucleophile. Alkyl-aryl ethers can be synthesized by treating the sodium salt of a phenol with an alkyl halide. The following example illustrates the Williamson synthesis of allyl-aryl ethers. The Bu N+Br is used to facilitate reaction between the polar phenoxide salt and the hydrophobic alkyl halide in the mixed solvent. 

Preparation.—Recent improvements and variations on the traditional Williamson synthesis of ethers from alcohols (as their metal alkoxides) and alkyl halides [equation (15)] include the use of powdered KOH (as the base) in DMSO, ° and... 

Methyl chloride can be converted iato methyl iodide or bromide by refluxing ia acetone solution ia the presence of sodium iodide or bromide. The reactivity of methyl chloride and other aUphatic chlorides ia substitution reactions can often be iacteased by usiag a small amount of sodium or potassium iodide as ia the formation of methyl aryl ethers. Methyl chloride and potassium phthalimide do not readily react to give /V-methy1phtha1imide unless potassium iodide is added. The reaction to form methylceUulose and the Williamson synthesis to give methyl ethers are cataly2ed by small quantities of sodium or potassium iodide. 

Williamson reaction is the synthesis of ethers by action of heat on a mixture of alkyl haldie and sodium or potassium alkoxide... 

In addition to its uses in photography and medicine, iodine and its compounds have been much exploited in volumetric analysis (iodometry and iodimetry, p. 864). Organoiodine compounds have also played a notable part in the development of synthetic organic chemistry, being the first compounds used in A. W. von Hofmann s alkylation of amines (1850), A. W. Williamson s synthesis of ethers (1851), A. Wurtz s coupling reactions (1855) and V. Grignard s reagents (1900). 

A variant of the Williamson ether synthesis uses thallium alkoxides. The higher reactivity of these can be of advantage in the synthesis of ethers from diols, triols and hydroxy carboxylic acids, as well as from secondary and tertiary alcohols on the other hand however thallium compounds are highly toxic. 

Because the Williamson synthesis is an S 2 reaction, it is subject to all the usual constraints, as discussed in Section 11.2. Primary halides and tosylates work best because competitive E2 elimination can occur with more hindered substrates. Unsymmetrical ethers should therefore be synthesized by reaction between the more hindered alkoxide partner and less hindered halide partner rather than vice versa. For example, terf-butyl methyl ether, a substance used in the 1990s as an octane booster in gasoline, is best prepared by reaction of tert-butoxide ion. with iodomethane rather than by reaction of methoxide ion with 2-chloro-2-methylpropane. 

Strategy Draw the target ether, identify the two groups attached to oxygen, and recall the limitations of the two methods for preparing ethers. The Williamson synthesis uses an Sn2 reaction and requires that one of the two groups attached to oxygen be either... 

Selected examples of the catalysed Williamson synthesis of aliphatic ethers... 

Williamson synthesis org chem The synthesis of ethers utilizing an alkyl iodide and sodium alcoholate. wil-yom-san sin-tha-sas )... 

Ethers may be prepared by (1) dehydration of alcohols and (11) Williamson synthesis. The boiling points of ethers resemble those of alkanes while their solubility Is comparable to those of alcohols having same molecular mass. The C-O bond In ethers can be cleaved by hydrogen halides. In electrophilic substitution, the alkoxy group activates the aromatic ring and directs the Incoming group to ortho and para positions. 

Williamson synthesis of an aryl alkyl ether requires the Ar to be part of the nucleophile ArO and not the halide, since ArX does not readily undergo 5 2 displacements. Note that since ArOH is much more acidic than ROH, it is converted to ArO" by OH instead of by Na as required for ROH. 

In fact, the reaction of alkoxides with alkyl halides or alkyl sulfates is an important general method for the preparation of ethers, and is known as the Williamson synthesis. Complications can occur because the increase of nucleo-philicity associated with the conversion of an alcohol to an alkoxide ion always is accompanied by an even greater increase in eliminating power by the E2 mechanism. The reaction of an alkyl halide with alkoxide then may be one of elimination rather than substitution, depending on the temperature, the structure of the halide, and the alkoxide (Section 8-8). For example, if we wish to prepare isopropyl methyl ether, better yields would be obtained if we were to... 

This involves the direct nucleophilic displacement of halogen in an alkyl halide by an alkoxide ion (the Williamson synthesis) (Expt 5.72), and the method is particularly useful for the preparation of mixed ethers. For an unsymmetrical ether [e.g. t-butyl ethyl ether (7)], the disconnection approach suggests two feasible routes. 

The selection of reagents is governed by availability, cost, and, more importantly, the possible intrusion of side reactions. Thus in the above example, the action of the strongly basic ethoxide ion on t-butyl bromide would give rise to extensive alkene formation on the other hand little or no elimination would occur by the alternative reaction route. In general therefore, secondary or tertiary alkyl groups can only be incorporated into ethers by the Williamson synthesis by way of the corresponding alkoxide ions in reaction with a primary halide. 

Examples of the preparation of alkyl benzyl ethers by the Williamson synthesis are included in Section 5.6.2, p. 583. An example of an alkyl phenyl ether is provided by the synthesis of phenacetin (Expt 6.109) where p-aminophenol is first converted into its Af-acetyl derivative by reaction with slightly more than one equivalent of acetic anhydride. Treatment of the product with ethanolic sodium ethoxide solution followed by ethyl iodide then yields the ethyl ether of AT-acetyl-p-phenetidine (phenacetin). This compound is biologically active and has been widely employed for example as an antipyretic and analgesic however, owing to undesirable side reactions, its use is now restricted. 

Both reactions would be successful. This synthesis of ethers is called the Williamson synthesis (see Sec. 8.5). 

Ethers For the synthesis of ether, the Williamson ether synthesis is considered as the best method. It involves the SN2 reaction between a metal alkoxide and a primary alkyl halide or tosylate. The alkoxide needed for the reaction is obtained by treating an alcohol with a strong base like sodium hydride. An alternative procedure is to treat the alcohol directly with the alkyl halide in the presence of silver oxide, thus avoiding the need to prepare the alkoxide beforehand. 

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