Variations and improvements

Since adipic acid has been produced in commercial quantities for almost 50 years, it is not surprising that many variations and improvements have been made to the basic cyclohexane process. In general, however, the commercially important processes stiU employ two major reaction stages. The first reaction stage is the production of the intermediates cyclohexanone [108-94-1] and cyclohexanol [108-93-0], usuaHy abbreviated as KA, KA oil, ol-one, or anone-anol. The KA (ketone, alcohol), after separation from unreacted cyclohexane (which is recycled) and reaction by-products, is then converted to adipic acid by oxidation with nitric acid. An important alternative to this use of KA is its use as an intermediate in the manufacture of caprolactam, the monomer for production of nylon-6 [25038-54-4]. The latter use of KA predominates by a substantial margin on a worldwide basis, but not in the United States. 

Variations and Improvements on Alkylations of Chiral OxazoUnes Metalated chiral oxazolines can be trapped with a variety of different electrophiles including alkyl halides, aldehydes,and epoxides to afford useful products. For example, treatment of oxazoline 20 with -BuLi followed by addition of ethylene oxide and chlorotrimethylsilane yields silyl ether 21. A second metalation/alkylation followed by acidic hydrolysis provides chiral lactone 22 in 54% yield and 86% ee. A similar... 

Variations and Improvements on Asymmetric Additions to Naphthyl Oxazolines... 

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