Synthesis of branched cores by poly-O-alkylation reaction under phase transfer conditions. A systematic study

Abstract

In the present paper is described a systematic study of poly-O-alkylation reactions of pentaerythritol (PE) and 1,1,1-tris(hydroxymethyl)ethane (TME) by 1,4 Michael addition, under phase transfer catalysis (PTC), considering the effect of: (1) the organophilicity of PTC (three different catalysts were tested), (2) PTC concentration (from catalytic to equimolar conditions), and (3) the regime of addition of reactants coexisting in the aqueous phase of the heterogeneous reaction system. The less organophilic transfer agent showed the best performance on these reactions. In our case, benzyltriethylammonium chloride (TEBAC) gathers the best features. The presence of NaOH as base, promotes the interfacial mechanism and not the bulk one. Out of the optimal range of concentration of NaOH (35–40%), competition between nucleophiles can occur, due to the saturation of the medium. Regarding the regime of addition of reactants, the scenario where NaOH and TEBAC are less time in contact, favors the formation of the desired products. Finally, the deprotection of tert-butyl groups of the poly-O-alkylated compounds is described, to get branched cores with terminal carboxylic acid groups in good yields (90–94%). Spectroscopic properties, such as IR, 1H and 13C NMR, of the synthesized compounds are also described.