Highly Efficient System for Reduction of Carboxylic Acids and Their Derivatives to Alcohols by HfCl4/KBH4

HfCl₄/KBH₄ was found to be a facile, efficient, convenient, and chemoselective system for the reduction of carboxylic acids and their derivatives to the corresponding alcohols under mild conditions. HfCl₄/NaBH₄ was also utilized to reduce the same carboxylic acids and their derivatives, and it was found that the reducing ability of HfCl₄/NaBH₄ was similar to that of HfCl₄/KBH₄. The action of HfCl₄/KBH₄ on other types of substrates, such as benzyl chloride, peracid, epoxide, ketone, amide, imine, pyridine-N-oxide, and nitrile, was investigated, too. In addition, some competitive reductions of styrene oxide in the presence of carboxylic acid, carboxylic ester, nitrile, and amide were achieved.     

Simple and Efficient Procedure for the Friedel–Crafts Acylation of Aromatic Compounds with Carboxylic Acids in the Presence of P2O5/AL2O3 Under Heterogeneous Conditions

An efficient and chemoselective method for the Friedel–Crafts acylation of aromatic compounds using P₂O₅/Al₂O₃ and carboxylic acids. Both aromatic and aliphatic carboxylic acids reacted easily to afford the corresponding aromatic ketones in good yields.     

Friedel-Crafts acylation of aromatic compounds with carboxylic acids in the presence of P2O5/SiO2 under heterogeneous conditions

A convenient and efficient procedure for the Friedel-Crafts acylation of aromatic compounds with carboxylic acids in the presence of P₂O₅/SiO₂ is described. Both aromatic and aliphatic carboxylic acids reacted easily to afford the corresponding aromatic ketones. The use of non-toxic and inexpensive materials, simple and clean work-up, short reaction times and good yields of the products are the advantages of this method.     

CeCl3-Catalyzed Reduction of Methyl Esters of Carboxylic Acids to Corresponding Alcohols with Sodium Borohydride

A wide range of methyl esters, including esters of aromatic carboxylic acids, alkenyl carboxylic acids, aliphatic carboxylic acids, and protected amino acids, were reduced to the corresponding alcohols with NaBH₄ in ethanol in the presence of a catalytic amount of CeCl₃. The reaction was completed within 24 h at ambient temperature and showed high functional group compatibility and chemoselectivity. With esters containing nitro, methoxyl, halogen, alkenyl, and protected amino functionalities, only the ester group was reduced. The alcohols were isolated after evaporation of the solvent and routine aqueous workup in good yields (75–95%).     

Application of variable anti-connectivity index to active sites. Modelling pK a values of aliphatic monocarboxylic acids

A partial distance-weighted variable anti-connectivity topological index was introduced for modelling pK _a values of 31 aliphatic carboxylic acids and haloalkyl-carboxylic acids. The partial distance-weighted variable anti-connectivity index showed superior modelling capabilities compared with the index calculated from the complete graph, because it is capable of accounting correctly for the intramolecular interactions of unconnected vertices to specific bond strengths (active site), thereby improving the RMS_CV error by about 30% (0.221 pK _a units).     

Cl3CCONH2/PPh3: A Versatile Reagent for Synthesis of Esters

Cl₃CCONH₂/PPh₃ was a versatile reagent to convert carboxylic acids into their corresponding acid chlorides. This intermediate was clearly confirmed by spectroscopic methods (IR, ¹H, ¹³C NMR). This one-pot reaction of in situ acid chloride generated with various alcohols successfully furnished the corresponding esters in moderate to excellent yields.     

Fluorolactonization of unsaturated carboxylic acids with F-TEDA-BF4 in ionic liquids

Fluorolactonization of unsaturated carboxylic acids under action of the electrophilic reagent F-TEDA-BF₄ in ionic liquids (ILs) has been studied. This reaction proceeds in ILs faster and provides a better stereoselectivity in comparison to acetonitrile as reaction media. Gem-difluorinated γ-lactones have been synthesized by interaction of unsaturated carboxylic acids with F-TEDA-BF₄ in ILs.     

Reactivity of chlorinating agents/PPh3 for the chlorination of alcohols and carboxylic acids: a comparative study

The reactivity of chlorinating agents was examined with the aid of ¹H NMR using competitive reactions between selected chlorinating agents and CBr₄ towards alcohols and carboxylic acids. The reactivity was greatly dependent on the type of substituent on the chlorinating agents. COCCl₃ and CN substituted trichloromethyl groups enhanced the reactivity of the chlorinating agent with PPh₃ for the chlorination of alcohols and carboxylic acids.     

Thermodynamic Estimate of pKa Values of the Carboxylic Acids in Aqueous Solution with the Density Functional Theory

The 96 pK_a values of 85 carboxylic acids in aqueous solution were calculated with the density functional theory method at the level of B3LYP/6‐31+G(d,p) and the polarizable continuum model (PCM) was used to describe the solvent. In the calculations of pK_a values, the dissociation Gibbs free energies were directly calculated using carboxylic acid dissociation reactions in aqueous solution, i. e., no thermodynamic cycle was employed, which is different from the previous literatures. A highly significant correlation of R²=0.95 with a standard deviation (SD) of 0.36 between the experimental pK_a values and the calculated dissociation Gibbs free energies [ΔG(calc.)] was found. The slope of pK_a vs. (G(calc.)/(20303RT) is only 47.6% of the theoretically expected value, which implies that the ΔG(calc.) value from the theoretical calculation is larger than the actual one for all 85 carboxylic acids studied. Thus, by adding the 0.476 scaling‐factor into the slope, we can derive a reliably procedure that can reproduce the experimental pK_a values of carboxylic acids. The pK_a values furnished by this procedure are in good agreement with the experimental results for carboxylic acids in aqueous solution.     

Regularities in the Distribution of Substituted,Branched, and Unsaturated Carboxylic Acids Between Organic and Aqueous Phases

There is no linear correlation between the physicochemical characteristics of carboxylic acids, their pK _a in particular, and their distribution constants K _d in the diethyl ether-water system; a certain correlation with molar volume V _m was revealed. Better results were obtained with use of multiparameter equations including V _m, polarity, polarizability, and pK _a of the acids. For 14 branched and substituted carboxylic acids it was found that their distribution constants between organic and aqueous phases are described by linear multiparameter equations, polarity and basicity of the extractants being the determining factors. The coefficients of the polarity and basicity terms vary in parallel with the corresponding characteristics of the acids.     

Calculations of pKa values of carboxylic acids in aqueous solution using density functional theory

With the specific aim of calculating the acidity equilibrium constant (K_a) of carboxylic acids in aqueous solution we investigated the solute-solvent interactions of these acids and their corresponding anions. The pK_a (−lg K_a) values have been calculated using density functional theory (DFT). The polarized continuum model (PCM) is used to describe the solvent. Using these methods, we successfully predicted the pK_as of 66 carboxylic acids in aqueous with the average error of 0.5 in pK_a units. Two different thermodynamic cycles have been studied. The theoretical values are in better agreement with the experimental results for those acids with moderate strength of acidity with the pK_a value higher than 3.     

POCl3-mediated synthesis of 2-substituted benzimidazolyl-coumarin,benzimidazolyl-indole,and styrylbenzimidazole derivatives

2-Substituted benzimidazolyl heterocycles and styrylbenzimidazoles have been synthesized by the reaction of substituted o-phenylenediamine with different heterocyclic carboxylic acids and cinnamic acid respectively in the presence of POCl₃ as a solvent and catalyst. The proposed reaction has advantageous features of good yields, short reaction times, and operational simplicity. In addition, the scope and limitations were explored, and a plausible reaction mechanism was proposed. The synthesized molecules were characterized by infrared, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and mass spectral data. Further, single crystals of 2-(1H-indol-2-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole have been developed and structural parameters were collected from x-ray diffraction data.     

N-Boc-Protected α-Amino Acids by 1,3-Migratory Nitrene C(sp3)−H Insertion

N-Boc-protected α-amino acids are synthesized in two steps from linear or branched carboxylic acid feedstocks. In the first step, the carboxylic acid is coupled with tert-butyl aminocarbonate (BocNHOH) to generate azanyl ester (acyloxycarbamate) RCO₂NHBoc. In the second step, this azanyl ester undergoes a stereocontrolled iron-catalyzed 1,3-nitrogen migration to generate the N-Boc-protected non-racemic α-amino acid. This straightforward protocol is applicable to the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of α-monosubstituted α-amino acids with aryl, alkenyl, and alkyl side chains. Furthermore, α,α-disubstituted α-amino acids are accessible in an enantioconvergent fashion from racemic carboxylic acids. The new method is also advantageous for the synthesis of α-deuterated α-amino acids. N-Boc-protected α-amino acids synthesized using this two-step protocol are ready-to-use building blocks.     

A Short Synthesis of Allene- and [3] Cumulenecarboxylates

It is shown that carboxylic acids, in the presence of Bu₃N and 2-chloro-1-methylpyridinium iodide in toluene or CH₂Cl₂, react with [(alkoxycarbonyl)methylidene]phosphoranes to yield the corresponding esters of allene carboxylic acids (ef. Scheme 1 and Table 1). This procedure can also be applied to cinnamic acids which form [3]cumulenecarboxylates in low yield (Table 3). Under the same conditions 4-methyl-2-pentynoic acid can be transformed into (2E)-4-chloro-2,6-dimethylhepta-2,4,5-trienoate (Scheme 4).     

Oxidative cleavage of α-sulfonyl ketones to carboxylic acids with Ce(NH4)2(NO3)6

Tandem oxidative cleavage of α-sulfonyl arylketones 2 with the combination of Ce(NH₄)₂(NO₃)₆ and O₂ in MeCN afforded carboxylic acids 3 in moderate to good yields. The plausible reaction mechanism has been discussed.     

Density functional theoretical study of pKa of RCOOH (RH,CH3, and C2H5) using the combination of the extended clusters‐continuum model

The accurate pK_a determinations for three carboxylic acids have been investigated using the combination of the extended clusters‐continuum model at B3LYP/6‐31+g(d,p) and B3LYP/6‐311++g(d,p) levels. To take into account of the effect of the water combined with carboxylic acids in different positions, eleven molecular clusters were considered. Among these clusters, the one involving the carboxylic acid wrapped up with water molecules and saturated with hydrogen bonds (four hydrogen bonds around ? COOH) leads to the best B3LYP pK_a results compared to the experimental data. For those clusters saturated with hydrogen bonds, when n = 3 (the number of water molecules), the average absolute errors between the calculated pK_a results and experimental data of these three carboxylic acids were 0.19 (0.23) and 0.12 (0.22) pK_a at B3LYP/6‐31+g(d,p)//PCM (IEFPCM) and B3LYP/6‐311++g(d,p)//PCM (IEFPCM) levels, respectively; when n = 4, they are 0.53 (1.23) and 1.09 (1.03) pK_a, respectively. On the basis of the above results, the molecular cluster saturated with four hydrogen bonds formed by three waters and one carboxylic acid molecule was the chief existence in the carboxylic acid solution. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012     

A colorimetric method for the determination of carboxylic acids

A new colorimetric method for the determination of carboxylic acids using bromocresol green reagent is established. The formed color follows Beer's Lambert law and is stable for 24 hr. The method is successfully applied for measuring the disappearance of volatile fatty acids in P. oxalicum culture media. The method is reproducable and is used also for the quantitative determination of carboxylic acids in Dowex 1-X8 eluates. A linear relationship between the pK₁ of different carboxylic acids and the calculated molar extinction coefficients of the color formed at 440 nm is demonstrated.     

Difference between Extra‐ and Intracellular T1 Values of Carboxylic Acids Affects the Quantitative Analysis of Cellular Kinetics by Hyperpolarized NMR

Incomplete knowledge of the longitudinal relaxation time constant (T₁) leads to incorrect assumptions in quantitative kinetic models of cellular systems, studied by hyperpolarized real‐time NMR. Using an assay that measures the intracellular signal of small carboxylic acids in living cells, the intracellular T₁ of the carboxylic acid moiety of acetate, keto‐isocaproate, pyruvate, and butyrate was determined. The intracellular T₁ is shown to be up to four‐fold shorter than the extracellular T₁. Such a large difference in T₁ values between the inside and the outside of the cell has significant influence on the quantification of intracellular metabolic activity. It is expected that the significantly shorter T₁ value of the carboxylic moieties inside cells is a result of macromolecular crowding. An artificial cytosol has been prepared and applied to predict the T₁ of other carboxylic acids. We demonstrate the value of this prediction tool.     

Zirconium-catalyzed cyclopropanation of α-olefins mediated by R′CO2R″ and ClnAlEt3-n

A Cp₂ZrCl₂-catalyzed one-pot cyclopropanation method has been developed to afford alkoxycyclopropanes and cyclopropanols from α-olefins involving esters of carboxylic acids and Cl_nAlEt_3-n.     

One-Pot Synthesis of Phenacyl Esters from Acetophenone, [Bmim]Br3, and Potassium Salts of Carboxylic Acids Under Solvent-Free Conditions

One-pot synthesis of phenacyl esters from acetophenone, [Bmim]Br₃, and potassium salts of carboxylic acids under solvent-free conditions gave the corresponding phenacyl esters with excellent yields.