Influence of Some Factors on the Progress of a New Reaction in the Chemistry of Organoaluminum Compounds

Abstract

We earlier discovered a new reaction in the chemistry of organoaluminum compounds (OACs), specifically, the formation of O-isobutyl acetals on low-temperature (–70°C) treatment of seven-membered lactones with a double (or more) molar amount of diisobutylaluminum hydride (DIBAH) in methylene chloride. To assess the boundaries for the formation of isobutyl acetals depending on the ring size, we involved in the low-temperature hydride reduction six-, eight-, and thirteen-membered lactones. To determine how the scope of the new reaction depends on the nature of the organoaluminum reagent, we tested triisobutylaluminum (TIBA). To determine how the formation of isobutyl acetals on low-temperature (–70°C) reduction with excess DIBAH in CH2Cl2 depends on whether the starting ester is cyclic or acyclic and, if the former is the case, on the ring size in the ester, we used the acyclic methyl octadecanoate as the starting compound. It was found that the new reaction in the chemistry of AOC with DIBAH as the reducer is characteristic only of seven-membered lactones and atypical of acyclic methyl octadecanoate and ricinoleate (i.e. acids with the carbon chain length more than 6).