Thaddeus S. Franczyk

Process for preparing carboxylic acid salts and methods for making such catalysts and catalysts useful in such process

A process to manufacture a carboxylic acid salt is disclosed wherein an aqueous solution of a primary alcohol is contacted with a base hydroxide in the presence of an effective amount of a catalyst consisting essentially of an alkali resistant support, from about 0.05 wt. % to about 10 wt. %, based on the total weight of the catalyst, of an anchor metal is selected from the group consisting of platinum, palladium, ruthenium, and gold, and between about 1 wt. % and about 50 wt. %, based on the total weight of the catalyst, of an element selected from the group consisting of copper, cobalt, nickel, and cadmium combined with the anchor metal.

The Synthesis and Chemistry of Formylphosphonate

New methods of synthesis and reactions of formylphosphonate have been investigated. Attempts to deprotect the corresponding diethyl acetal with TiIV halides led instead to the formation of halo(ethoxy)methylphosphonates which undergo substitution reactions with a wide range of nucleophiles. The products of reactions of formylphosphonate with bifunctional nucleophiles are determined in most cases by Baldwins Rules, while the imines derived from formylphosphonate undergo Diels-Alder reactions only in those cases which carry a strongly electron-withdrawing N-substitutent.