New Opportunities for Duff Reaction

Reaction of 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol with urotropin in conditions of Duff reaction takes an abnormal route and instead of the expected di-tert-butylsalicylaldehyde provides a mixture of N-substituted 3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzylamines and redox conjugate benzoxazines containing mostly 6,8-di-tert-butyl-3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)-2H-3,4-dihydrobenze]1,3]oxazine. A solvolysis of an individual benzoxazine in the system HO(CH₂)₂OH-H₂O-HCl affords di(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)amine, and in AcOH 3,5-di-tert-butylsalicilaldehyde. A mechanism of Duff reaction was suggested involving the formation of a benzoxazine intermediate.__________Translated from Zhurnal Organicheskoi Khimii, Vol. 41, No. 5, 2005, pp. 718–721.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Belostotskaya, Komissarova, Prokof’eva, Kurkovskaya, Vol’eva.