Potassium and sodium 2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxides and their properties

The crucial factor of the reaction of 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol with alkali hydroxides is temperature, depending on which two types of potassium or sodium 2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxides are formed. These types exhibit different catalytic activity in the alkylation of 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol with methyl acrylate. More active forms of 2,6-Bu^t ₂C₆H₃OK or 2,6-Bu^t ₂C₆H₃ONa are synthesized at temperatures higher than 160 °C and are predominantly the monomers, which dimerize on cooling. The data of ¹H NMR, electronic, and IR spectra for the corresponding forms of 2,6-Bu^t ₂C₆H₃OK and 2,6-Bu^t ₂C₆H₃ONa isolated in the individual state are in agreement with cyclohexadienone structure. In DMSO or DMF, the dimeric forms of 2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxides react with methyl acrylate to form methyl 3-(4-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl)propionate in 64–92% yield. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 12, pp. 2138–2143, December, 2006.