V. A. Petrosyan

Electrosynthesis of adipic acid by undivided cell electrolysis

A preparative method for synthesis of adipic acid in 47% yield was developed. The method is based on cyclohexanol oxidation in an undivided cell on the NiOOH electrode in aqueous alkali. A possibility of the step-by-step process was studied: oxidation of cyclohexanol to cyclohexanone (75% yield) and subsequent oxidation of cyclohexanone to adipic acid (52% yield). The electrosynthesis of adipic acid is accompanied by the formation of minor amounts (up to 10%) of glutaric and succinic acids.

Electrooxidation of primary nitramine anions on platinum in MeCN

Oxidation of primary nitramine anions RNNO2−Bu4N+ (R=Me, Et, Pr1, or methoxyfurazanyl) in 0.1N Bu4NClO4 in MeCN on a Pt anode was studied by voltammetry and controlled potential electrolysis. It was found that the first stage of oxidation affords the corresponding radicals, which are further stabilized due to hydrogen abstraction from the medium. These radicals are also involved in other reactions, including those, which yield azo derivatives. The possibility of generation of nitrene species in these reactions is discussed.

Organic synthesis based on cathodic deprotonation of acids

The results of studies on electrosynthesis involving carb- and heteroanions generated by cathodic deprotonation of acids (CDA), carried out in the laboratory headed by the author, are surveyed. These studies resulted in the elaboration of efficient electrochemical versions of the known Michaelis-Becker, Wittig-Horner, and Perkin reactions; electrochemical analogs of homolytic aromatic substitution, alkylation, heterocyclization,etc. were developed. Based on CDA, convenient and promising methods for preparing variousN-, O-, P-, S-, andC-alkylated and arylated substances have been developed.

Reactions of some arenes and pyrazoles in MeCN under conditions of undivided-cell electrolysis

As exemplified for the first time by pyrazole and its 4-nitro and 3,5-dimethyl derivatives, N-arylation of pyrazoles can be performed under conditions of undivided-cell amperostatic electrolysis (Pt electrodes, MeCN) of systems containing the pyrazolate anion and (or) pyrazole, arene (benzene, 1,4-dimethoxybenzene, or xylene), and a supporting electrolyte. In the case of electrolysis involving 1,4-dimethoxybenzene as arene, N-arylation followed simultaneously three routes to form an ortho-substitution product (1,4-dimethoxy-2-(pyrazol-1-yl)benzene), an ipso-substitution product (4-methoxy-1-(pyrazol-1-yl)benzene), and an ipso-bisaddition product (1,4-dimethoxy-1,4-di(pyrazol-1-yl)cyclohexa-2,5-diene) in a total current yield of up to 50%. The acid-base properties of the pyrazoles under study affect the ratio of the N-arylation products and govern the required composition of the starting reaction mixture. In the case of a stronger base, such as 3,5-dimethylpyrazole, N-arylation with 1,4-dimethoxybenzene occurred even in the pyrazole—arene—tetraalkylammonium perchlorate system, whereas N-arylation of 4-nitropyrazole (a weaker base) proceeded only in the presence of the pyrazolate anion or another base, viz., sym-collidine. Oxidation of arene to the radical cation is the key anodic reaction. Not only the pyrazolate anion, but also highly basic pyrazole or a solvate complex of weakly basic pyrazole with collidine can serve as a nucleophilic partner in subsequent transformations of these radical cations.

Electrosynthesis of cyclopropane derivatives by a Perkin-type reaction

Electrolysis of active methylene compounds at a Pt cathode in MeCN in the presence of vicinal dihaloalkanes leads to cyclopropane derivatives in yields up to 90%. In the cases of CH-acids with lowpKa it is expedient to apply more active dihaloalkanes, while for CH-acids with higherpKa the desired product yields may be raised using electrogenerated bases.

Calculation of thermochemical parameters for CHnX3−n−→: CHnX2−n+X−, n = 0,1 and 2, X = Cl and Br. MO study of solvent and counter-ion effects

Abstract The dissociation of anions (CCl 3 − , CHCl 2 − , CH 2 Cl − , CBr 3 − , CHBr 2 − , CH 2 Br − ) to carbene products (:CCl 2 , :CHCl, :CBr 2 , :CHBr, :CH 2 ) was studied within the MNDO technique. Increments were added to the calculated energies to reproduce the experimental gas-phase values. The solvent effect was introduced within the point dipole model. The counter ion was simulated by the unity positive point charge. It is found that the reaction under consideration can occur only in solution. The increase in the solvent polarity and the substitution of the H atoms by Cl or Br accelerate the reaction. Interaction with the small counter ion may also accelerate the reaction, this effect depending on both the solvent polarity and the counter-ion size.

Arenium cation as the key intermediate of the electrosynthesis of N-(2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)azoles. A new approach to the synthesis of N-(dimethoxyphenyl)azoles

Data on the effect of the acid-base properties of the medium on the yield and composition of the products of N-dimethoxyphenylation of azoles (pyrazole, triazole, their substituted derivatives, and tetrazole) upon galvanostatic electrolysis of azole—1,4-dimethoxybenzene mixtures in nucleophilic (MeOH) and neutral (MeCN) media were considered and the trends of this process were discussed. The generation of arenium cations (1,4-dimethoxy-1-azolylbenzenium in MeCN and 1,1,4-trimethoxybenzenium in MeOH) as the key intermediates of electrosynthesis of N-(dimethoxyphenyl)azoles, was proved experimentally. A new approach to the synthesis of N-(dimethoxyphenyl)azoles through electrosynthesis of 1,1,4,4-tetramethoxycyclohexa-2,5-diene by electrooxidation of 1,4-dimethoxybenzene in MeOH as the first step and the reaction of this quinone diketal with azoles as the second step was suggested. The efficiency of this route to N-(dimethoxyphenyl)azoles is comparable with the efficiency of the purely electrochemical one-step process.

N-Dimethoxyphenylation of highly basic pyrazoles during undivided electrolysis

The reactions of pyrazole, 3,5-dimethylpyrazole, and its 4-nitro derivatives with 1,4-dimethoxybenzene during undivided amperostatic electrolysis in MeCN (CH2Cl2) were studied. The basicity of the medium, which depends on the solvent nature, the nature and concentration of pyrazole and the acid-base properties of additives, and the amount of electricity passed determine the yield and relative content of the target products, viz., 1,4-dimethoxy-2-(pyrazol-1-yl)benzenes (1) and 1,4-dimethoxy-1,4-di(pyrazol-1-yl)cyclohexa-2,5-dienes (2). The process occurs mainly through the interaction of the nonionized solvato complex of pyrazole with the 1,4-dimethoxybenzene radical cation and affords radical intermediates structurally similar to compounds 1 and 2. The key stage of the process determining the 1 : 2 ratio is the rearrangement of the intermediately produced 1,4-dimethoxy-1-(pyrazol-1-yl)arenonium cation to the 1-(pyrazol-1-yl)-2,5-dimethoxyarenonium cation.

N-Arylation of azoles with low basicity by 1,4-dimethoxybenzene during undivided electrolysis

The reactions of 1,4-dimethoxybenzene with 4-nitropyrazole, 3,4-dinitro-5-methylpyrazole, 1,2,4-triazole, 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazole, and tetrazole were studied during undivided amperostatic electrolysis on a Pt electrode in MeCN, CH2Cl2, and MeOH. The main reaction products were 2-azolyl-1,4-dimethoxybenzenes and (or) 1,4-diazolyl-1,4-dimethoxycyclohexa-2,5-dienes. In all cases except 1,2,4-triazole, N-arylation occurs only in the presence of the Alk4N+ salts of azoles or 2,4,6-trimethylpyridine as a base. The mechanism of the reactions is discussed.

Electrosynthesis of diazene oxides under oxidation of nitramine anions at Pt in MeCN in the presence of nitrosobenzene

The electrooxidation of anions of primary nitramine salts RNNO2−M+ (R=Me, Et, methoxyfurazanyl; M+=Bu4N+, Li+, Na+) at a Pt anode in the presence of nitrosobenzene in divided and undivided cells was studied by potentio-and amperostatic electrolysis. Solutions of alkali metals and tetrabutylammonium salt in anhydrous MeCN were used as supporting electrolytes. Electrolysis can result in the formation of the corresponding diazene oxide, whose yield depends on the nature of the cation of the supporting electrolyte. In an undivided cell, the yield of diazene oxide increases owing to the regeneration of nitramine anions due to cathodic deprotonation of the nonionized form. The latter is formed by the stabilization of some radical intermediates by the elimination of hydrogen atoms from the components of the medium.