Reaction Pathways in Carbonates and Esters.

This review reports on the competition/collaboration among intertwined base-catalyzed acyl cleavage bimolecular mechanism (B 2)/base-catalyzed alkyl cleavage bimolecular mechanism (B 2) or the related acid catalyzed mechanisms A 2/A 2 and A 1 concerning Carbonates chemistry also in comparison with Esters reactivity. A consistent analysis of the experimental data so far available in the literature led to proposing a theoretical Model outlining the differences in energy profiles among the above-mentioned reaction mechanisms. The reactions involving Carbonates are so tightly interconnected that the formation of the final product is driven by a precise not interfering sequence of B 2-B 2 (or A 2-A 2) mechanisms.

Dialkyl Carbonates in the Green Synthesis of Heterocycles.

This review focuses on the use of dialkyl carbonates (DACs) as green reagents and solvents for the synthesis of several 5- and 6-membered heterocycles including: tetrahydrofuran and furan systems, pyrrolidines, indolines, isoindolines, 1,4-dioxanes, piperidines, and cyclic carbamates. Depending on the heterocycle investigated, the synthetic approach used was different. Tetrahydrofuran systems, pyrrolidines, indolines, isoindoline, and 1,4-dioxanes were synthesized using dimethyl carbonate (DMC) as sacrificial molecule (B2/B2 mechanism).

β-Aminocarbonates in Regioselective and Ring Expansion Reactions.

The reactivity of β-aminocarbonates as anisotropic electrophiles has been investigated with several phenols. Products distribution shows that the regioselectivity of the anchimerically driven alkylation reaction depends on the nucleophiles. The results suggest that in the presence of nucleophiles that are also good leaving groups, the reaction takes place under thermodynamic control favoring the attack on the most sterically hindered carbon of the cyclic aziridinium intermediate.

Isosorbide and dimethyl carbonate: a green match.

In this review the reactivity of the bio-based platform compounds D-sorbitol and isosorbide with green reagents and solvent dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is reported. Dehydration of D-sorbitol via DMC in the presence of catalytic amounts of base is an efficient and viable process for the preparation of the industrially relevant anhydro sugar isosorbide. This procedure is "chlorine-free", one-pot, environmental friendly and high yielding.

Azacrown Ethers from Mustard Carbonate Analogues.

Polycondensation of a nitrogen mustard carbonate analogue with aromatic diols under dilution conditions affords a series of azacrown ethers previously not easily accessible as they require multistep synthesis including protection, purification, cyclization and methylation. This novel synthesis relies upon the anchimeric effect of the nitrogen mustard carbonate and it does not require the use of any base.

Synthesis of five-membered cyclic ethers by reaction of 1,4-diols with dimethyl carbonate.

The reaction of 1,4-diols with dimethyl carbonate in the presence of a base led to selective and high-yielding syntheses of related five-membered cyclic ethers. This synthetic pathway has the potential for a wide range of applications. Distinctive cyclic ethers and industrially relevant compounds were synthesized in quantitative yield.

Insight into the hard-soft acid-base properties of differently substituted phenylhydrazines in reactions with dimethyl carbonate.

Following the preliminary studies on the reactivity of the ambident nucleophile phenylhydrazine with dimethyl carbonate, investigations involving para-substituted phenylhydrazines were carried out in order to probe differences in the reactivity within this class of nucleophile. Phenylhydrazines substituted by electron withdrawing or donating substituents showed an increase in reactivity of the phenylhydrazine toward dimethyl carbonate. Under the basic conditions used, all phenylhydrazines displayed hard nucleophilicity, signifying that para-substitution on the phenyl ring has little effect on the hard-soft behavior of this class of nucleophile.

Reaction of the ambident electrophile dimethyl carbonate with the ambident nucleophile phenylhydrazine.

To explore the ambident electrophilic reactivity of dimethyl carbonate (DMC), reactions with the ambident nucleophile phenylhydrazine were investigated. When a Brönsted base was used, selective carboxymethylation occurred at N-1, after that several other compounds were produced selectively utilizing various conditions. Formation of these compounds was explained by using the Hard-Soft Acid-Base (HSAB) theory.

Multiphasic heterogeneous catalysis mediated by catalyst-philic liquid phases.

This critical review addresses heterogeneous catalysis in systems where multiple liquid phases coexist and where one of the phases is catalyst-philic. This technique provides built-in catalyst separation, and product recovery for organic reactions. Focus is placed on the components of the multiphasic systems with emphasis on the constituents of the catalyst-philic phases (PEGs, onium salts, ionic liquids) that incorporate the catalysts, as well as on the effects on catalytic efficiency.

Triphasic liquid systems: generation and segregation of catalytically active Pd nanoparticles in an ammonium-based catalyst-philic phase.

A triphasic liquid system fabricated from isooctane, aqueous base, and trioctylmethylammonium chloride/decanol promoted the formation of Pd-nanoparticles in the size range of 2-4 nm which remained immobilised in the onium phase, catalysed organic reactions, and could be recycled.

Selective n,n-dimethylation of primary aromatic amines with methyl alkyl carbonates in the presence of phosphonium salts.

In the presence of onium salts, at 140-170 degrees C, methyl alkyl carbonates [1a-c, ROCO2Me, R = MeO(CH2)2[O(CH2)2]n; n = 2-0, respectively] react with primary aromatic amines (XC6H4NH2, X= p-OMe, p-Me, H, p-Cl, p-CO2Me, o-Et, and 2,3-Me2C6H3NH2) to yield the corresponding N,N-dimethyl derivatives (ArNMe2) with high selectivity (up to 96%) and good isolated yields (78-95%). Phosphonium salts (e.g.

Highly chemoselective methylation and esterification reactions with dimethyl carbonate in the presence of NaY faujasite. The case of mercaptophenols, mercaptobenzoic acids, and carboxylic acids bearing OH substituents.

In the presence of NaY faujasite, the reactions of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) with several ambident nucleophiles such as o- and p-mercaptophenols (1a,b), o- and p-mercaptobenzoic acids (2a,b), o- and p-hydroxybenzoic acids (3a,b), mandelic and phenyllactic acids (4, 5), have been explored under batch conditions. Highly chemoselective reactions can be performed: at 150 degrees C, compounds 1 and 2 undergo only a S-methylation reaction, without affecting OH and CO2H groups; at 165 degrees C, acids 3-5 form the corresponding methyl esters, while both their aromatic and aliphatic OH substituents are fully preserved from methylation and/or transesterification processes. Typical selectivities are of 90-98% and isolated yields of products (S-methyl derivatives and methyl esters, respectively) are in the range of 85-96%.

Synthesis of methyl carbamates from primary aliphatic amines and dimethyl carbonate in supercritical CO2: effects of pressure and cosolvents and chemoselectivity.

[reaction: see text] At 130 degrees C, in the presence of CO2 (5-200 bar), primary aliphatic amines react with dimethyl carbonate (MeOCO2Me, DMC) to yield methyl carbamates (RNHCO2Me) and N-methylation side-products (RNHMe and RNMe2). The pressure of CO2 largely influences both the reaction conversion and the selectivity toward urethanes: in general, conversion goes through a maximum (70-80%) in the midrange (40 bar) and drops at lower and higher pressures, whereas selectivity is continuously improved (from 50% up to 90%) by an increase of the pressure. This is explained by the multiple role of CO2 in (i) the acid/base equilibrium with aliphatic amines, (ii) the reactivity/solubility of RNHCO2- nucleophiles with/in DMC, and (iii) the inhibition of competitive N-methylation reaction of the substrates.

Mono-N-methylation of functionalized anilines with alkyl methyl carbonates over NaY faujasites. 4. Kinetics and selectivity.

[reaction: see text] In the presence of NaY faujasite as the catalyst, the reaction of bifunctional anilines (1-4: XC6H4NH2; X = OH, CO2H, CH2OH, and CONH2) with methyl alkyl carbonates [MeOCO2R': R' = Me or MeO(CH2)2O(CH2)2] proceeds with a very high mono-N-methyl selectivity (XC6H4NHMe up to 99%), and chemoselectivity as well, with other nucleophilic functions (OH, CO2H, CH2OH, CONH2) fully preserved from alkylation and/or transesterification reactions. Aromatic substituents, however, modify the relative reactivity of amines 1-4: good evidence suggests that, not only steric and electronic effects, but, importantly, direct acid-base interactions between substituents and the catalyst are involved. Weakly acidic groups (OH, CH2OH, CONH2, pKa > or = 10) may help the reaction, while aminobenzoic acids (pKa of 4-5) are the least reactive substrates.

Dimethyl carbonate as an ambident electrophile.

[reaction: see text] The features of various anions having different soft/hard character (aliphatic and aromatic amines, alcohoxydes, phenoxides, thiolates) are compared with regard to nucleophilic substitutions on dimethyl carbonate (DMC), using different reaction conditions. Results are well in agreement with the Hard-Soft Acid-Base (HSAB) theory. Accordingly, the high selectivity of monomethylation of CH(2) acidic compounds and primary aromatic amines with DMC can be explained by two different subsequent reactions, which are due to the double electrophilic character of DMC.

Heck reaction catalyzed by Pd/C, in a triphasic-organic/Aliquat 336/aqueous-solvent system.

The rate of the Pd/C catalyzed Heck coupling of Ar-I with CH(2)=CH-R is accelerated tenfold by the presence of Aliquat 336 (A336), a well known phase transfer catalyst, and an ionic liquid. Both when conducted in A336 as solvent, and in an isooctane/A336/aqueous triphasic mixture, the Heck reaction of aryl iodides with electron deficient olefins, catalyzed by Pd/C, proceeds with high yields and selectivity. When KOH is used instead of Et(3)N, selective formation of the biphenyl rather than the Heck product, is observed.

Selective n,n-dibenzylation of primary aliphatic amines with dibenzyl carbonate in the presence of phosphonium salts.

In the presence of catalytic amounts of tetraalkylphosphonium salts and under solventless conditions, primary aliphatic amines (RNH(2): R = PhCH(2), Ph(CH(2))(2), n-decyl, and 1-naphthylmethyl) are efficiently N-benzylated to the corresponding RN(CH(2)Ph)(2), using dibenzyl carbonate as the benzylating reagent. Compared to the reaction run without salt, where the competitive formation of the benzyl carbamate is favored, the phosphonium salt promotes high selectivity toward the benzylated amine and an increase of the reaction rate as well. However, in a single case explored for an amino acidic compound, namely 4-(aminomethyl)benzoic acid [4-(NH(2)CH(2))C(6)H(4)CO(2)H], both N,N-dibenzylation and esterification of the acid group were observed.

Reaction of functionalized anilines with dimethyl carbonate over NaY faujasite. 3. chemoselectivity toward mono-N-methylation.

In the presence of NaY faujasite, dimethyl carbonate (MeOCO(2)Me, DMC) is a highly chemoselective methylating agent of functionalized anilines such as aminophenols (1), aminobenzyl alcohols (2), aminobenzoic acids (3), and aminobenzamides (4). The reaction proceeds with the exclusive formation of N-methylanilines without any concurrent O-methylation or N-/O-methoxy carbonylation side processes. Particularly, only mono-N-methyl derivatives [XC(6)H(4)NHMe, X = o-, m-, and p-OH; o- and p-CH(2)OH; o- and p-CO(2)H; o- and p-CONH(2)] are obtained with selectivity up to 99% and isolated yields of 74-99%.

Nucleophilic displacements in supercritical carbon dioxide under phase-transfer catalysis conditions. 2. Effect of pressure and kinetics.

The nucleophilic displacement on n-octylmesylate (n-C(8)H(17)OSO(2)CH(3), 1) with four different anions (I(-), Br(-), N(3)(-), and SCN(-)) is investigated under liquid-supercritical phase-transfer catalysis (LSc-PTC) conditions, i.e. in a biphase system of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)) and water, in the presence of both silica supported and conventional onium salts.

Mono-N-methylation of primary amines with alkyl methyl carbonates over Y faujasites. 2. Kinetics and selectivity.

In the presence of a Na-exchanged Y faujasite, the reaction of primary aromatic amines 1 with 2-(2-methoxyethoxy)methylethyl carbonate [MeO(CH(2))(2)O(CH(2))(2)OCO(2)Me, 2a] yields the corresponding mono-N-methyl derivatives ArNHMe with selectivity up to 95%, at substantially quantitative conversions. At 130 degrees C, the reaction can be run under diffusion-free conditions and is strongly affected by the solvent polarity: for instance, in going from xylene (epsilon(r) = 2.40) to triglyme (epsilon(r) = 7.

The chemistry of dimethyl carbonate.

Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is a versatile compound that represents an attractive eco-friendly alternative to both methyl halides (or dimethyl sulfate) and phosgene for methylation and carbonylation processes, respectively. In fact, the reactivity of DMC is tunable: at T = 90 degrees C, methoxycarbonylations take place, whereas at higher reaction temperatures, methylation reactions are observed with a variety of nucleophiles. In the particular case of substrates susceptible to multiple alkylations (e.

Green organic syntheses: organic carbonates as methylating agents.

Dimethylcarbonate (DMC) is a valuable methylating reagent that can replace methyl halides and dimethylsulfate in the methylation of a variety of nucleophiles. It couples tunable reactivity and unprecedented selectivity towards mono-C- and mono-N-methylation. In addition, it is a prototype example of a green reagent, because it is nontoxic, is made by a clean process, is biodegradable, and reacts in the presence of a catalytic amount of base, thereby avoiding the formation of undesirable inorganic salts as by-products.