Synthesis of Aryl Allyl Ether in the Recyclable Ionic Liquid [bmim]PF_6

Ionic liquids, especially imidazonium salts, have recently gained recognition as possible environmentally benign alternative chemical process solvents. This is mainly due to their nonvolatile nature, insolubility in some solvents as well as their ability to dissolve a wide range of organic and inorganic materials, allowing the ionic liquids easy recovery and recycling. Examples of their application in organic reactions have been summarized in a number of recent review articles. 1 Aryl allyl et…

Synthesis of Aryl Allyl Ether in the Recyclable Ionic Liquid [bmim]PF6

Ionic liquids, especially imidazonium salts, have recently gained recognition as possible environmentally benign alternative chemical process solvents. This is mainly due to their nonvolatile nature, insolubility in some solvents as well as their ability to dissolve a wide range of organic and inorganic materials, allowing the ionic liquids easy recovery and recycling. Examples of their application in organic reactions have been summarized in a number of recent review articles.1Aryl allyl ether is very useful intermediate in organic synthesis. The Williamson reaction is a well knows method for the preparation ethers. However, the reaction of alkylating agents with the phenoxide ions was conventionally carried out in the organic solvents. The usual solvents for this type of reaction are DCM, 2 DMSO, 3 DMF, 4 CH3CN5 etc. With the current desire to avoid the use of organic molecular solvents in organic synthesis, we decide to investigate the use of the ionic liquid for the alternative solvent for the Williamson reaction to prepare the aryl allyl ethers. The ionic liquid employed here was the moisture stable 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [bmim]PF6.6 The ionic liquid is non-volatile, thermally stable, and depending on the anion, can present low immiscible with water,alkanes and dialky ethers. We have now found that aryl allyl ethers can have been obtained from various phenols and allyl bromide in the presence of potassium hydroxide in [bmim]PF6 as a replacement for classical organic solvents in the ambient temperature. The results are shown in Scheme 1.The reaction were carried out by simple mixing the phenolwith the ally bromide and potassium hydroxide in [bmim]PF6 and stirred at room temperature for 4h. The results are summarized in Table 1.In conclusion, Williamson reaction can be successfully conducted in ionic liquid [bmim]PF6 with a number of advantages: the procedure is simple, the reaction condition is mild and the yields are excellent.Moreover, the reaction media can be reused..