Acylation Using Zeolites

In this paper we report the use of supported heteropoly acid (silicotungstic acid) and supported phosphoric acid catalysts for the acylation of industrially relevant aromatic feedstocks with acid anhydrides in the synthesis of aromatic ketones. In particular, we describe the acylation of thioanisole 1 with iso-butyric anhydride 2 to form 4-methyl thiobutyrophenone 3. The acylation of thioanisole with acetic anhydride has been reported in which a series of zeolites were used as catalysts. Zeolite H-beta was reported to have the highest activity of the zeolites studied (41 mol % conversion, 150°C) (2). 

An impressive number of papers and books has been published and numerous patents have been registered on the aq lation of aromatic compounds over solid catalysts. Recently Sartori and Maggi [1] have written an excellent review with 267 references on the use of solid catalysts in Friedel-Crafts acylation. In one section of this review, namely acylation of aromatic ethers or thioethers, the authors report work on acylation by solid catalysts such as zeolites, clays, metal oxides, acid-treated metal oxides, heteropolyacids or Nafion. When examining in details these results, it appeared very difficult for us to build upon these experimental results as the reaction conditions differ drastically from one paper to the next. This prompted us to reinvestigate the scope and limitations of the Friedel-Crafts acylation using heterogeneous solids as catalysts, trying as much as we could to rationalize the observed effects. 

The acetylation of alcohols and phenols with acetic anhydride and HSZ-360 zeolite at 60oC used no solvent. The acetate of 1-dodecanol was obtained in 98% yield, and the acetate from 1 naphthol in 100% yield.183 The acylation of anisole with acetic anhydride at 100oC without solvent using zeolite H-/8 gave 4-methoxyacetophenone (6.30) in 98%yield.184 The catalyst could be recovered, regenerated, and reused with no decrease in yield. These reactions show that not all zeolites are used at high temperatures in the vapor phase. 

Previously, Kantam et al. also carried out the Friedel-Crafts acylation of pyrrole with acetic anhydride over microcrystalline beta zeolites with less successful results [118]. The microcrystalline beta zeolite catalysts showed the highest activity in the acylation reaction due to their higher acidity as compared with ordinary beta zeolite. When a microcrystalline beta zeolite I (with a particle size of 1-10 gm obtained by mechanical disintegration of beta zeolite) was used as catalyst, 73% of conversion and 58% of selectivity to 2-acetylp5n role was reached after 2.5 h of reaction time. However, when a microcrystalline beta zeolite II (with a particle size of 10-50 gm obtained by decreasing the aging time to 48 h instead of 1 week) was used, 78% of conversion and 64% of selectivity to 2-acetylpyrrole was reached after 2h of reachon time. 

The use of zeolites can also be very helpful in removing a reaction product that unfavourably influences the yield of the desired product. Thus, in the manufacture of antibiotic cefoxitin, the amide acylation results in the generation of HCI, which can be removed by the addition of molecular sieve 3 A or 4 A, which has a large capacity for HCI (Weinstock, 1986). Other examples are reactions in which products like methanol or water retard the rate and prevent the reaction to reach the desired degree of completion. Molecular sieves capture methanol or water very well. 

In liquid-solid processes reaction takes place between a liquid reactant and an insoluble or sparingly soluble solid which must be finely divided to speed up the process. Another measure to accelerate the process is to use an aqueous solution of a phase-transfer agent (typically a quaternary ammonium salt). The solid can also be a catalyst for reactions between liquid components, e.g. in acylations, carried out both conventionally in the presence of metal chlorides (mostly AICI3) or catalysed by zeolites and Grignard reactions. 

Another patent apphcation (28) describes the use of zeolite/TUD-1 with optionally a metal function for a variety of reactions. In an example, as-synthesized MCM-22 / TUD-1 was tested for acylation of 2-methoxynaphthalene with acetic anhydride to 2-acetyl-6-methoxynaphthalene at 240°C. After reaction for six hours, conversion of 2-methoxynaphthalene reached 56% with 100% selectivity to 2-acetyl-6-methoxynaphthalene. Other zeolite catalysts were similarly tested, but none were nearly as effective. 

Friedel-Crafts acylation is widely used for the production of aromatic ketones applied as intermediates in both fine chemicals and pharmaceutical industries. The reaction is carried out by using conventional homogenous catalysts, which represents significant technical and environmental problems. The present work reports the results obtained in the Friedel-Crafts acylation of aromatic substrates (anisole and 2-methoxynaphthalene) catalyzed by Beta zeolite obtained by crystallization of silanized seeds. This material exhibits hierarchical porosity and enhanced textural properties. For the anisole acylation, the catalytic activity over the conventional Beta zeolite is slightly higher than with the modified Beta material, probably due to the relatively small size of this substrate and the weaker acidity of the last sample. However, the opposite occurred in the acylation of a bulky substrate (2-methoxynaphthalene), with the modified Beta showing a higher conversion. This result is interpreted due to the presence of a hierarchical porosity in this material, which favors the accessibility to the active sites. 

Among the wide variety of organic reactions in which zeolites have been employed as catalysts, may be emphasized the transformations of aromatic hydrocarbons of importance in petrochemistry, and in the synthesis of intermediates for pharmaceutical or fragrance products.5 In particular, Friede 1-Crafts acylation and alkylation over zeolites have been widely used for the synthesis of fine chemicals.6 Insights into the mechanism of aromatic acylation over zeolites have been disclosed.7 The production of ethylbenzene from benzene and ethylene, catalyzed by HZSM-5 zeolite and developed by the Mobil-Badger Company, was the first commercialized industrial process for aromatic alkylation over zeolites.8 Other typical examples of zeolite-mediated Friedel-Crafts reactions are the regioselective formation of p-xylene by alkylation of toluene with methanol over HZSM-5,9 or the regioselective p-acylation of toluene with acetic anhydride over HBEA zeolites.10 In both transformations, the p-isomers are obtained in nearly quantitative yield. 

Zeolites have also been described as efficient catalysts for acylation,11 for the preparation of acetals,12 and proved to be useful for acetal hydrolysis13 or intramolecular lactonization of hydroxyalkanoic acids,14 to name a few examples of their application. A number of isomerizations and skeletal rearrangements promoted by these porous materials have also been reported. From these, we can underline two important industrial processes such as the isomerization of xylenes,2 and the Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime to e-caprolactam,15 which is an intermediate for polyamide manufacture. Other applications include the conversion of n-butane to isobutane,16 Fries rearrangement of phenyl esters,17 or the rearrangement of epoxides to carbonyl compounds.18... 

Several metal oxides could be used as acid catalysts, although zeolites and zeo-types are mainly preferred as an alternative to liquid acids (Figure 13.1). This is a consequence of the possibility of tuning the acidity of microporous materials as well as the shape selectivity observed with zeolites that have favored their use in new catalytic processes. However, a solid with similar or higher acid strength than 100% sulfuric acid (the so-called superacid materials) could be preferred in some processes. From these solid catalysts, nation, heteropolyoxometalates, or sulfated metal oxides have been extensively studied in the last ten years (Figure 13.2). Their so-called superacid character has favored their use in a large number of acid reactions alkane isomerization, alkylation of isobutene, or aromatic hydrocarbons with olefins, acylation, nitrations, and so forth. 

The one-pot dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of ( )-l-phenylethanol lipase esterification in the presence of zeolite beta followed by saponification leads to (R)-l phenylethanol in 70 % isolated yield at a multi-gram scale. The DKR consists of two parallel reactions kinetic resolution by transesterification with an immobilized biocatalyst (lipase B from Candida antarctica) and in situ racemization over a zeolite beta (Si/Al = 150). With vinyl octanoate as the acyl donor, the desired ester of (R)-l-phenylethanol was obtained with a yield of 80 % and an ee of 98 %. The chiral secondary alcohol can be regenerated from the ester without loss of optical purity. The advantages of this method are that it uses a single liquid phase and both catalysts are solids which can be easily removed by filtration. This makes the method suitable for scale-up. The examples given here describe the multi-gram synthesis of (R)-l-phenylethyl octanoate and the hydrolysis of the ester to obtain pure (R)-l-phenylethanol. 

Using acyl nitrates as nitrating agents (compare with Section 4.5.4.2) and zeolite H-ZSM-11 treated with tributylamine, Nagy et al. (1991, 1994) were able to nitrate toluene with an even more impressive percentage of the isomers obtained—ortho 2-3%, meta 1-2%, and para 95-98%. 

With this purpose, several different types of solid acid catalysts have been investigated for the acylation of aromatics, but the best performances have been obtained with medium-pore and large-pore zeolites (3-9). In general, however, the use of acylating agents other then halides, e.g., anhydrides or acids, is limited to the transformation of aromatic substrates highly activated towards electrophilic substitution. In a previous work (10), we investigated the benzoylation of resorcinol (1,3-dihydroxybenzene), catalyzed by acid clays. It was found that the reaction mechanism consists of the direct 0-benzoylation with formation of resorcinol monobenzoate, while no primary formation of the product of C-benzoylation (2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone) occurred. The latter product formed exclusively by... 

The Friedel-Crafts acylation of aromatic compounds is an important synthesis route to aromatic ketones in the production of fine and specialty chemicals. Industrially this is performed by reaction of an aromatic compound with a carboxylic acid or derivative e.g. acid anhydride in the presence of an acid catalyst. Commonly, either Lewis acids e.g. AICI3, strong mineral acids or solid acids e.g. zeolites, clays are used as catalysts however, in many cases this gives rise to substantial waste and corrosion difficulties. High reaction temperatures are often required which may lead to diminished product yields as a result of byproduct formation. Several studies detail the use of zeolites for this reaction (1). 

As reported in the literature, the acylation of aromatic hydrocarbons can be carried out by using zeolites as catalysts and carboxylic acids or acyl chlorides as acylating agents. Thus toluene can be acylated by carboxylic acids in the liquid phase in the presence of cation exchanged Y-zeolites (ref. 1). The acylation of phenol or phenol derivatives is also reported. The acylation of anisole by carboxylic acids and acyl chlorides was obtained in the presence of various zeolites in the liquid phase (ref. 2). The acylation of phenol by acetic acid was also carried out with silicalite (ref. 3) or HZSM5 (ref. 4). The para isomer has been generally favoured except in the latter case in which ortho-hydroxyacetophenone was obtained preferentially. One possible explanation for the high ortho-selectivity in the case of the acylation of phenol by acetic acid is that phenylacetate could be an intermediate from which ortho-hydroxyacetophenone would be formed intramolecularly. 

Attempts have recently been made to prepare solid acids by loading triflic acid into various inert oxides including silica,184 titania,185,186 and zirconia.187,188 Silica functionalized with anchored aminopropyl groups was also used to immobilize triflic acid.189 These new catalysts have been tested in a variety of organic transformations, such as alkane-alkene alkylation, Friedel-Crafts acylation, alkene dimerization, and acetalization. Silica nanoboxes prepared by dealumination of Na-X- and Ca-A-type zeolites were also loaded with triflic acid up to 32 wt%.190 The materials were thoroughly characterized but have not been tested as catalysts. 

The monoacylation of symmetrical diols has been extensively investigated, and several useful methods have been developed. 1,2-Diols can be monoacylated readily, presumably because the product is acylated more slowly than the starting diol (Scheme 10.4). A variety of catalysts, for example lanthanide salts [10, 11], zeolites [12, 13], and tin derivatives [14, 15] have been used to further improve the selectivity of this reaction. Orthoesters have also been successfully used as acylating agents for the monoacylation of 1,2-diols [16],... 

The scheme proposed for the reaction over HFAU was that PA dissociates in phenol (P) and ketene and that o-HAP, which was highly favoured over the para isomer, results partly from an intramolecular rearrangement of PA, partly from acyl group transfer from PA to P whereas p-HAP results from this latter reaction only. In these experiments, the zeolite deactivation was very fast, as a result of coke deposition and zeolite dehydroxylation. Catalyst stability can be considerably improved by operating at lower temperatures and especially by substituting equimolar mixtures of PA and water or P and acetic acid for PA. Much higher HAP yields were obtained by using the P - acetic acid mixture as reactants.[68]... 

Mesoporous aluminosilicates have attracted much recent attention because of their potential use as versatile catalysts and catalyst supports, especially for large molecules, but their acidity is always much weaker than that of zeolites. They must be modified to enhance their acidity. Mesoporous Si-MCM-41 supported metal chloride catalysts[29] have shown high activity in the acylation of benzene by benzoyl chloride even in the presence of moisture in the reaction mixture. The time required for 54 % conversion of benzoyl chloride at 80 °C was 2.2 h in the presence of InC13/Si-MCM-41, against 18 h with H-BEA. 

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