Asymmetric synthesis of tertiary benzylic alcohols

Vinyl, aryl, and alkynyl organometallics add to ketones containing a stereogenic sulfoxide. Tertiary alcohols are generated in diastereomerically and enantiomerically pure form. Reductive lithiation converts the sulfoxide into a variety of useful functional groups.     

Palladium/NHC-catalyzed tandem benzylic oxidation/oxidative esterification of benzylic alcohols with phenols

A palladium/NHC-catalyzed tandem benzylic oxidation/oxidative esterification of benzylic alcohols with phenols to access aryl benzoate derivatives is described. The procedure tolerates a series of functional groups, such as methoxy, nitro, cyano, chloro, fluoro and bromo groups. Thus, it represents a practically alternative method to access aryl benzoate derivatives.     

Direct conversion of benzylic and allylic alcohols to phosphonates

Benzyl phosphonate esters often serve as reagents in Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reactions. In most cases, they can be prepared from benzylic alcohols via formation of the corresponding halide followed by an Arbuzov reaction. To identify a more direct synthesis of phosphonate esters, we have developed a one-flask procedure for conversion of benzylic and allylic alcohols to the corresponding phosphonates through treatment with triethyl phosphite and ZnI(2).     

Deoxygenation of benzylic alcohols using chloroboranes

New boron-based methods for deoxygenating benzylic alcohols via the corresponding alkoxides are reported.     

Cross-coupling of benzylic acetates with arylboronic acids: one-pot transformation of benzylic alcohols to diarylmethanes

Benzylic acetates reacted with arylboronic acids in the presence of a DPEphos-[Pd(eta3-C3H5)Cl]2 catalyst when tert-amyl alcohol was used as a solvent, and the catalytic cross-couplings produced diarylmethanes in high yields (up to 94% isolated yield).     

Tandem oxidation of allylic and benzylic alcohols to esters catalyzed by N-heterocyclic carbenes

N-heterocyclic carbenes catalyze the oxidation of allylic, propargylic, and benzylic alcohols to esters with manganese(IV) oxide in excellent yields. A variety of ester derivatives can be synthesized, including protected carboxylates. This one-pot tandem oxidation represents the first organocatalytic oxidation of alcohols to esters. Saturated esters can also be accessed from aldehydes using this method. Through the utilization of a chiral catalyst, the acyl-heteroazolium intermediate becomes a chiral acylating agent, which can desymmetrize meso-1,2-diols. [reaction: see text].     

ZnCl2-catalyzed Ferrier reaction; synthesis of 2,3-unsaturated 1-O-glucopyranosides of allylic, benzylic and tertiary alcohols

Tertiary, allylic and benzylic alcohols react with 3,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-d-glucal in dichloromethane at 25°C in the presence of ZnCl₂ to afford the corresponding 2,3-unsaturated-1-O-glucopyranoside acetates in 65-91% yields, with selective formation of the α-anomer.     

Hydrogenolysis of benzylic alcohols on rhodium catalysts

Alumina-supported catalysts from various sources and with different rhodium dispersions predominantly yield the hydrogenation product perhydro-1-indanol in the liquid-phase hydrogenation of 1-indanol, while carbonsupported catalysts mainly give the C-O bond scission - hydrogenation product perhydroindane. Addition of organic or inorganic bases to the reaction mixture suppresses C-O bond scission. To distinguish between the two possible pathways for C-O bond scission of direct hydrogenolysis or dehydration followed by hydrogenation, deuteration studies have been carried out with carbon-supported catalysts. Not only 1-indanol but also indane and indene (the two possible mechanistic intermediates in the C-O bond scission routes) were deuterated. Information about the actual pathway has been obtained by determining the degree of deuteration and the positions at which deuterium is incorporated in the resulting perhydroindane product by means of mass spectrometry and 13C NMR spectroscopy. The results prove that C-O bond scission takes place primarily through the direct hydrogenolysis pathway on the carbon-supported catalysts. Direct hydrogenolysis occurs on the carbon support because of the formation of a better leaving group (OH2+) from the benzylic hydroxy group and its subsequent substitution by spillover hydrogen.     

Iodine-catalyzed N-alkylation of tosylhydrazones with benzylic alcohols

A new and highly efficient method for the C–N bond formation using molecular iodine-catalyzed N-alkylation reaction of tosylhydrazones with benzylic/benzhydryl alcohols at room temperature in methylene chloride is described. A variety of tosylhydrazones reacted readily with various substituted benzylic alcohols in presence of 20 mol % iodine under mild reaction conditions to produce the corresponding biologically active N-alkylated compounds in good to excellent yields.     

Acid-catalyzed N-alkylation of tosylhydrazones using benzylic alcohols

N-Alkylation of tosylhydrazones in the presence of an acid catalyst is described for the first time. Tris(pentafluorophenyl) borane was found to be a mild and efficient catalyst when benzylic alcohols were used as the alkylating agents.     

Deoxygenation of tertiary and secondary benzylic alcohols into alkanes with triethylsilane catalyzed by solid acid tin(IV) ion-exchanged montmorillonite

We discovered an efficient protocol for the conversion of tertiary and secondary benzylic alcohols into the corresponding alkanes in good to quantitative yields by employing tin(IV) ion-exchanged montmorillonite (Sn-Mont) as a solid acid catalyst and Et3SiH as the hydride source. The reaction is likely to proceed via the S_N1-type reaction mechanism, that is, the formation of carbenium ions, followed by the addition of a hydride from the silane. The work-up of the reaction only requires simple filtration of the solid acid without any neutralization of the acid catalyst.     

Selective oxidation of alcohols at the benzylic position by benzeneseleninic anhydride

Benzeneseleninic anhydride in the presence of tert-butyl hydroperoxide in chlorobenzene at about 70 degrees C is an effective oxidizing agent for the selective oxidation of alcohols at the benzylic position.     

Critical view on the recent enantioselective synthesis of alcohols,amines and related molecules having tertiary benzylic stereocenter

Stereochemically defined enantioenriched molecules were, are and will always be playing a pivotal role in the development of novel pharmaceutical agents. On this line, compounds having tertiary benzylic stereocenter are of special note. This has led to an increase in the development of novel synthetic strategies for accessing molecules having this structural moiety. The current critical discussion proposes to describe the various synthetic methodologies for the enantioselective synthesis of diaryl methanols, diarylmethyl amines and other related scaffolds with tertiary benzylic stereogenic center that came up during 1995–2016. Through this critical view, we would not only like to give the readers a brief outlook on the different techniques that can be followed for the synthesis of a vast array of entities having this structural core, but also would like to highlight the limitations the protocols that need to be addressed.     

Regioselective N-alkylation of 2-aminobenzothiazoles with benzylic alcohols

The preparation of 2-(N-alkylamino)benzothiazoles via regioselecive N-alkylation of 2-aminobenzothiazoles has been accomplished by using benzylic alcohols as alkylating agents.     

Selective oxidation of benzylic and allylic alcohols with NaOCl/silica gel system

Sodium hypochlorite, a cheap and readily available compound, when supported on silica gel can selectively oxidize benzylic and allylic alcohols to their carbonyl compounds in the presence of catalytic amount of DMSO.     

Aerobic photocatalytic oxidation of activated benzylic and allylic alcohols to carbonyl compounds catalyzed by molecular iodine

An efficient, selective and environmentally benign photocatalytic system in acetonitrile has been developed for aerobic oxidation of activated benzylic and allylic alcohols into their corresponding aldehydes and ketones without the need for a transition metal in moderate to excellent yields with a catalytic amount of iodine. Very high inter- and intramolecular chemoselectivities are observed when benzylic OH groups are oxidized in the presence of aliphatic (nonbenzylic) hydroxyls.     

Metal-free oxidation of secondary benzylic alcohols using aqueous TBHP

We report a simple, yet efficient metal-free oxidation of secondary benzylic alcohols in the presence of t-butyl hydroperoxide (70% TBHP) with high yields of up to 98%. This type of reaction can be carried out using a wide variety of substrates, requires no other organic solvent, and proves to be tolerant toward a variety of different functional groups.     

Liquid-phase Oppenauer oxidation of primary allylic and benzylic alcohols to corresponding aldehydes by solid zirconia catalysts

Hydrous zirconia and grafted zirconium 1-propoxide catalysts were found active in the Oppenauer oxidation of cinnamyl alcohol, geraniol and 4-tert-butylcyclohexanol (cis- and trans-). The most active hydrous zirconia catalysts were formed by calcining at 250–300 °C. Grafted zirconium 1-propoxide on silica gel and MCM-41 were active in the Oppenauer oxidation of geraniol with high selectivity to the desired citral product. However, over an acidic support such as AlMCM, the grafted zirconium 1-propoxide catalysed the dehydration and isomerisation of the alcohol, leading to low yield to citral. Also, furfural was found to be an efficient oxidant for the titled Oppenauer oxidation. Other solid catalysts such as γ-Al₂O₃, Na–Al₂O₃, zeolite beta and Mg/Al hydrotalcite showed only moderate catalytic activity and selectivity in the Oppenauer oxidation of geraniol. As compared to other solid catalysts, hydrous zirconia solid catalysts used in this work are active and selective towards the formation of desired carbonyl oxidation products; additionally, these solid zirconia catalysts are easy to prepare and recycle, and applicable to different alcohol substrates.

Graphical abstract

Hydrous zirconia calcined at 250–300 °C and grafted zirconium 1-propoxide solid catalysts were found to be efficient for the Oppenauer oxidation of cinnamyl alcohol, geraniol and 4-tert-butylcyclohexanol in toluene when furfural was used as the oxidant.

Full-size image (4K)

     

气液色谱法研究醇类在芳烃中的缔合溶液热力学

用气液色谱法测量了不同温度下C~1-C~4醇类的各异构物在二苯甲烷、联苄、二苯乙炔、二苯甲酮及二苯亚砜中的无限稀活度系数γ~i、偏摩尔过量焓H^E~i及偏摩尔过量熵S^E~i。用Kretschmer-Wiebe 模型计算各醇类在二苯甲烷、联苄、二苯乙炔中的自身缔合常数K~A, 得到在同一溶剂中, C~1-C~4醇类, K~A减小次序。用同一模型计算各醇类在二苯甲酮、二苯亚砜中的交叉缔合常数K~A~B, 得到在同一溶剂中, K~A~B减小次序。     

醇类在芳烃溶剂中的缔合溶液热力学

用凝固点降低法测量了在C1-C4醇类的各异构物分别存在下, 苯和对二甲苯溶剂的活度系数γB。用Wiehe-Bagley(WB)模型对数据进行了处理, 得到各醇的自缔合常数KA及无限稀活度系数γA。在同一溶剂中, KA依下列顺序减小: 甲醇>乙醇>正丙醇>正丁醇; 正丙醇>异丙醇; 正丁醇>异丁醇>叔丁醇≥仲丁醇。各醇在对二甲苯中的KA均大于相应的在苯中的KA。