Titanium tetrachloride method

When enamines are produced by the titanium tetrachloride method of White and Weingarten1,2, the kinetically controlled product is formed. 

Aziridine enamines of cycloheptanone (12, n = 2) and cyclooctanone (12, n = 3) have been prepared70 by the titanium tetrachloride method, but cyclohexanone gave only compounds 13, 14 and 15. 

The synthesis of enamines by the modified titanium tetrachloride method was discussed in Chapter 12. The final yield and the rate of enamine formation depend on the molar ratios of TiCl4/substrate and amine/substrate. The optimum conditions with regard to these variables were determined by response surface technique and/or simplex technique for a series of carbonyl compounds. The results obtained for the morpholine enamines are summarized in Fig. 14.2. It is seen that the more crowded substrates require an excess of the reagents. The use of standardized conditions would have led to the wrong conclusions as to the utility of the method. For instance, when the optimum conditions for synthesis of the morpholine enamine from methyl isobutyl ketone were applied to diisopropyl ketone a yield of 12 % was obtained after 4 h. Under optimized conditions yields > 70 % could be obtained. 

When a new reaction is studied, the reaction mechanisms remain to be established. The method must then be investigated through experimental studies. As most reactions involve several chemical species which can interact, the order of their introduction to the reaction mixture may sometimes be very important for the result. In our own activities, we have come across several cases where the order of introduction was critical. For instance, the yield of enamine by the titanium tetrachloride method was increased from 70 % overnight to 95 % after a few minutes by reversing the order of introduction of amine and titanium... 

The metal was a laboratory curiosity until Kroll, in 1946, showed that titanium could be produced commercially by reducing titanium tetrachloride with magnesium. This method is largely used for producing the metal today. The metal can be purified by decomposing the iodide. 

Titanium tetrafluoride may be prepared by the action of elemental fluorine on titanium metal at 250°C (5) or on Ti02 at 350°C. The most economical and convenient method is the action of Hquid anhydrous HF on commercially available titanium tetrachloride in Teflon or Kynar containers. Polyethylene reacts with TiCl and turns dark upon prolonged exposure. The excess of HF used is boiled off to remove residual chloride present in the intermediates. 

From the time that isoprene was isolated from the pyrolysis products of natural mbber (1), scientific researchers have been attempting to reverse the process. In 1879, Bouchardat prepared a synthetic mbbery product by treating isoprene with hydrochloric acid (2). It was not until 1954—1955 that methods were found to prepare a high i i -polyisoprene which dupHcates the stmcture of natural mbber. In one method (3,4) a Ziegler-type catalyst of tri alkyl aluminum and titanium tetrachloride was used to polymerize isoprene in an air-free, moisture-free hydrocarbon solvent to an all i7j -l,4-polyisoprene. A polyisoprene with 90% 1,4-units was synthesized with lithium catalysts as early as 1949 (5). 

Titanium Tetrafluoride. Titanium tetrafluoride [7783-63-3] is a white hygroscopic soHd, density 2798 kg/m, that sublimes at 284°C. The properties suggest that it is a fluorine-bridged polymer in which the titanium is six-coordinate. The preferred method of preparation is by direct fluorination of titanium sponge at 200°C in a flow system. At this temperature, the product is sufficiently volatile that it does not protect the unreacted sponge and the reaction proceeds to completion. The reaction of titanium tetrachloride with cooled, anhydrous, Hquid hydrogen fluoride may be used if pure hydrogen fluoride is available. 

Other preparative methods include direct synthesis from the elements, reaction between gaseous hydrogen fluoride and titanium tetrachloride, and decomposition of barium hexafluorotitanate [31252-69-6] BaTiF, or ammonium, (NH 2TiFg. 

Titanium tetraiodide can be prepared by direct combination of the elements at 150—200°C it can be made by reaction of gaseous hydrogen iodide with a solution of titanium tetrachloride in a suitable solvent and it can be purified by vacuum sublimation at 200°C. In the van Arkel method for the preparation of pure titanium metal, the sublimed tetraiodide is decomposed on a tungsten or titanium filament held at ca 1300°C (152). There are frequent hterature references to its use as a catalyst, eg, for the production of ethylene glycol from acetylene (153). 

A very useful method is the proportionation of alkoxides with a stoichiometric quantity of titanium tetrachloride or bromide, preferably in an inert hydrocarbon solvent (55,57), as follows, where n is 1, 2, or 3 ... 

High Density Polyethylene. High density polyethylene (HDPE), 0.94—0.97 g/cm, is a thermoplastic prepared commercially by two catalytic methods. In one, coordination catalysts are prepared from an aluminum alkyl and titanium tetrachloride in heptane. The other method uses metal oxide catalysts supported on a carrier (see Catalysis). 

This is a clear liquid that vaporizes and, on contact with damp air, combines with w ater to produce a dense acid mist. Titanium tetrachloride can be painted on to surfaces, such as fume cupboard sills, from which it will evaporate over a period of several seconds showing the airflow patterns close to the surface. (Airflow patterns close to a surface could also be visualized by fastening short filaments of wool or cotton to the surface). Titanium tetrachloride can also be used, when soaked onto a cotton swab, in a similar way to a smoke tube. It is a simple and inexpensive method but the production of smoke, which is toxic and corrosive, is uncontrollable. 

The pivotal step in this sequence is an electrophilic substitution on indole. Although the use of l,3-dithian-2-yl carbanions is well documented, it has been shown only recently that 1,3-dithian-2-yl carbenium ions can be used in a Priedel-Crafts type reaction. This was accomplished initially using 2-methoxy-l,3-dithiane [1,3-Dithiane, 2-methoxy-] or 2-metlioxy-l,3-dithiolane [1,3-Dithiolane, 2-methoxy-] and titanium tetrachloride [Titanate(l —), tetrachloro-] as the Lewis acid catalyst.9 2-Substituted lysergic acid derivatives and 3-substituted indoles have been prepared under these conditions, but the method is limited in scope by the difficulties of preparing substituted 2-methoxy-1,3-dithianes. l,3-Dithian-2-yl carbenium ions have also been prepared by protonation of ketene dithioacetals with trifluoroacetic acid,10 but this reaction cannot be used to introduce 1,3-dithiane moieties into indole. 

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