Xanthate synthesis

In the Leuckart thiophenol synthesis, the reaction of xanthates with dia2onium compounds may be violent. The reaction can be controlled. 

LEUCKART Thiophenot Synthesis Formation of Ihiophenols from diazonium salts and xanthates... 

Mohamed, A.A., Kani, I., Ramirez, A.O. and Fackler, J.P. Jr (2004) Synthesis, characterization, and luminescent properties of dinuclear gold(I) xanthate complexes X-ray structure of [Au2(nBu-xanthate)2j. Inorganic Chemistry, 43, 3833-3839. 

Xanthates serve as a reliable source of electrophilic radicals, and this was exploited by Zard and coworkers for a short synthesis of ( )-matrine (3-304), a naturally occurring alkaloid which has been claimed to have anti-ulcerogenic and anticancer properties [116]. Heating a mixture of xanthate 3-299 and the radical acceptor 3-300 (3 equiv.) in benzene in the presence of lauroyl peroxide as initiator, gave 3-301 in 30% yield and a 3 1 mixture of the tetracylic products 3-302 and 3-303 in 18% yield (Scheme 3.76) [117]. The three compounds could be converted into the... 

Monofunctional and difunctional xanthates, shown in Scheme 30, were employed as chain transfer agents in the synthesis of block and triblock copolymers of acrylic acid, AA and acrylamide, AAm PAA-fr-PAAm, PAAm-fr-PAA-fo-PAAm and P(AA-sfaf-AAm)-fr-PAAm [81]. The polymerizations were conducted in aqueous solutions at 70 °C with 4,4 -azobis(4-cyanopentanoic acid) as the initiator. The yields were almost quantitative,... 

There is an enormous literature on thiocarbonyl compounds, due in part to the technical and industrial importance of many of them, including thioamides, thioureas, xanthates, dithiocarbamates and so forth. An excellent, and recent, general review is available.107 There are also specialized reviews germane to the present chapter Griffin, Woods, and Klayman2 discussed the use of thioureas in the synthesis of heterocycles the preparation of thiazoles from thioamides is included in a three-part volume on Thiazoles 108 the use of carbon disulfide in the synthesis of trithiones and related heterocycles has been reviewed by Mayer109 and Huisgen110 has reported numerous examples of 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions in which carbon disulfide was used. 

The synthesis of alkali metal xanthates from trimethylsilyl dithiocarboxylates and alkali metal fluorides317 has been described as convenient and useful for preparative purposes of metal complexes and organometallic derivatives. 

Scheme 4.72 Synthesis of S-glycosyl dithiocarbonates (glycosyl xanthates).

Glycosyl dithiocarbonates (xanthates) are attractive glycosyl donors because of their high reactivity in glycosylation reactions. Most procedures for the synthesis of dithiocarbonates involve reaction of per-O-acetylglycosyl halide 3 or 4 with... 

Scheme 4.73 Glycosyl xanthates in stereoselective synthesis of galactosamine-containing oligosaccharides [399],...

Several other examples of successful application of sialyl xanthates for oligosaccharide synthesis have been reported [411,413-427]. 

Scheme 4.95 Stereoselective synthesis of oligosaccharides via glycosyl xanthate [399].

A relevant reductive process, which has found wide application in organic synthesis, is the deoxygenation of alcohols introduced in 1975 by Barton and McCombie [58]. Reaction (4.28) shows that the thiocarbonyl derivatives, easily obtained from the corresponding alcohol, can be reduced in the presence of BusSnH under free radical conditions. The reactivity of xanthates and thiocarbonyl imidazolides [58] was successfully extended to 0-arylthiocarbonates [59] and (9-thioxocarbamates [60]. Several reviews have appeared on this subject, thus providing an exhaustive view of this methodology and its application in natural product synthesis [61-64]. 

The reduction of thiocarbonyl derivatives by EtsSiH can be described as a chain process under forced conditions (Reaction 4.50) [89,90]. Indeed, in Reaction (4.51) for example, the reduction of phenyl thiocarbonate in EtsSiD as the solvent needed 1 equiv of dibenzoyl peroxide as initiator at 110 °C, and afforded the desired product in 91 % yield, where the deuterium incorporation was only 48% [90]. Nevertheless, there are some interesting applications for these less reactive silanes in radical chain reactions. For example, this method was used as an efficient deoxygenation step (Reaction 4.52) in the synthesis of 4,4-difluoroglutamine [91]. 1,2-Diols can also be transformed into olefins using the Barton-McCombie methodology. Reaction (4.53) shows the olefination procedure of a bis-xanthate using EtsSiH [89]. 

An interesting neophyl-type radical rearrangement process has been established for the synthesis of azabicycles, which are not readily accessible by other means. Barton McCombie deoxygenation of xanthate 70 under slow addition of (TMS)3SiH and AIBN in refluxing toluene furnished the 2-azabenzonorbor-nane derivative in good yield (Reaction 7.72) [82]. 

An alternate procedure used in a few specialty applications is the cuprammonium process. This involves stabilization of cellulose in an ammonia solution of cupric oxide. Solubilization occurs by complex formation of cupric ion with ammonia and the hydroxyl groups of cellulose. Regeneration of cellulose, after formation of the desired products, is accomplished by treatment with acid. The main application of the cuprammonium process is for the synthesis of films and hollow fibers for use in artificial kidney dialysis machines. The cuprammonium process yields products with superior permeability and biocompatibility properties compared to the xanthation process. Less than 1% of all regenerated cellulose is produced by the cuprammonium process. 

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