BtCH(2)TMS-assisted homologation of carboxylic acids: A safe alternative to the arndt-eistert reaction
One-carbon homologation of carboxylic acids is achieved by (i) treatment of an acyl chloride with 1-[(trimethylsilyl)methyl]-1H-1,2, 3-benzotriazole (BtCH(2)TMS) (1) to afford N-(acylmethyl)benzotriazoles 3a-f, followed by (ii) conversion of 3a-f with triflic anhydride into RC(OTf)=CHBt 4a-f, and (iii) the subsequent reaction of 4a-c with NaOCH(3) followed by 1N HCl to afford esters RCH(2)CO(2)R' 7a-c in overall yields of 50-70%. For the aliphatic compounds 5d-f, treatment of 5d-f with p-toluenesulfonic acid followed by TBAF/THF afforded acids RCH(2)COOH 7d-f.
Katritzky
AR
Center for Heterocyclic Compounds, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-7200, USA.
Zhang
S
Fang
Y