Atmospheric CO2 fixation by unsaturated alcohols using tBuOI under neutral conditions

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.200906352

(Chemical Equation Presented) Hold on tight! Reaction of CO₂ with unsaturated alcohols and tBuOI to form cyclic carbonates leads to fixation of the greenhouse gas. In contrast to known CO₂ fixation methods, this process proceeds unde

Full text of DOI:10.1002/anie.200906352

Angewandte
Chemie
DOI: 10.1002/anie.200906352
CO2 Fixation
Atmospheric CO2 Fixation by Unsaturated Alcohols Using tBuOI
under Neutral Conditions**
Satoshi Minakata,* Itsuro Sasaki, and Toshihiro Ide
Carbon dioxide is a significant contributor to environmental
warming.[1,2] The Kyoto Treaty, ratified in 1997, is intended to
restrict the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon
dioxide. As a result, the development of methods for efficient
consumption and storage of carbon dioxide would be highly
desirable. The chemical fixation of CO2 and its subsequent use
in producing valuable products is one possible approach to
the effective utilization of CO2. Efforts to increase the use of
CO2 for the production of useful organic chemicals are
needed. Unfortunately, CO2 is a very stable compound; its
carbon atom is in a highly oxidized state, thus imparting the
compound with thermodynamic stability. Because of this
stability, highly reactive metal catalysts or reagents, high
pressures, strong acids, and strong nucleophiles or bases[3] are
typically required to activate or capture carbon dioxide
(Scheme 1A). Clearly, a low-energy process is needed for
capturing carbon dioxide and utilizing it in a chemical process.
One possible solution is to take advantage of carbonic acid
monoalkyl esters, which are thought to be generated from the
equilibrium between CO2 and alcohols (Scheme 1B), but
such compounds have not been observed, owing to their
instability.[4] The most plausible evidence for their existence is
a report describing the formation of methyl diphenylmethyl
carbonate, which is produced by the reaction of diphenyldia-
zomethane in CO2-expanded methanol.[5] Since the focus of
the latter study was on evidence for the formation of
alkylcarbonic acids from CO2 and alcohols, CO2 capturing
efficiency was not addressed.
process would be interesting for chemical CO2 fixation and
would also reduce the requisite energy compared to conven-
tional processes. In such a process, a carbonic acid monoester,
generated spontaneously by the reaction of CO2 with an
alcohol, would result in its low-energy trapping. We previ-
ously reported that a proton of a weak acid such as an amide
(HA) replaces the iodine of tert-butyl hypoiodite (tBuOI),[6]
thus leading to the production of a reactive iodonium source
(IA; Scheme 2A).[7] Using this unique phenomenon, if a weak
acid, such as an alkylcarbonic acid derived from CO2, and an
unsaturated alcohol were treated with tBuOI, an active
species would be generated, and its subsequent intramolec-
ular cyclization would displace the equilibrium to the right
(the product side; Scheme 2B). This strategy offers an
innovative approach to the fixation of CO2 to organic
molecules.
Scheme 2. A) Reaction of tert-butyl hypoiodite with weak acids.
B) Strategy for trapping carbonic acids with tert-butyl hypoiodite.
Related transformations, such as CO2 fixation to unsatu-
rated alcohols, using conventional procedures have been
reported. The synthesis of cyclic iodocarbonates by the
trapping of CO2 with allyloxide and homoallyloxide ions
was reported by Cardillo et al.[8] This procedure, however,
requires a strong base, nBuLi, for the generation of the
alkoxides. The incorporation of CO2 into propargylic alcohols
has also been reported,[9] but the procedure also requires high
CO2 pressures, the use of strong bases, metal catalysts, and the
application of heat.
If a small amount of alkylcarbonic acid in the equilibrium
mixture could be effectively trapped in some way, this new
Herein we report an extremely mild procedure for the
fixation of CO2. The method takes advantage of the acidic
character of the alkylcarbonic acid generated from CO2 and
an unsaturated alcohol, in which iodination of the carbonic
acid with tBuOI is a key reaction, which changes the position
of the equilibrium of the initial CO2-trapping reaction. The
reagent, tBuOI, can be readily prepared in situ from
commercially available tert-butyl hypochlorite (tBuOCl) and
sodium iodide (NaI). The raw material tBuOCl is easily
prepared from tert-butyl alcohol and commercial household
bleach in the presence of acetic acid.[10] Thus, the desired CO2
fixation does not require the use of strong bases, environ-
mentally unfriendly metal reagents, or pressurized conditions.
Scheme 1. A) Conventional routes for the activation of CO2. B) Utiliza-
tion of an acidic environment generated from CO2 and alcohols.
[*] Dr. S. Minakata, I. Sasaki, T. Ide
Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering
Osaka University, Yamadaoka 2-1, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan)
Fax: (+81)6-6879-7402
E-mail: Minakata@chem.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
[**] This work was partially supported by Japan Science and Technology
Agency.
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
under http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.200906352.
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Communications
To test the concept, when the simplest allyl alcohol was
relatively weak acid (tBuOH) during the reaction of allylcar-
bonic acid and tBuOI.
treated with tBuOI (2 equiv) under 1 atm of CO2 in acetoni-
trile at room temperature, a five-membered cyclic carbonate
containing an iodomethyl group was produced in 50% yield.
To improve the efficiency of the reaction, a variety of solvents
and temperature were screened. The use of tetrahydrofuran
(THF) as a solvent and a reaction temperature of À208C
resulted in the formation of the desired carbonate in 92%
yield (Table 1, entry 1). Although the reaction proceeded
even with the use of one equivalent of tBuOI, the yield of the
product was rather low (78% yield). To confirm the
superiority of the system, we tested other representative
iodinating reagents (bis(pyridine)iodine tetrafluoroborate
(IPy2BF4), N-iodosuccinimide (NIS), I2, and a combination
of I2 and triethylamine), which failed to provide the desired
product. The reason that tBuOI is the most appropriate
iodinating reagent can be attributed to the liberation of the
Having identified the suitable reagents, we explored the
scope of the reaction with respect to substrate (Table 1).
Solvent and the concentration of reactants affected the
efficiency of CO2 fixation to unsaturated alcohols. A b-
branched allyl alcohol was smoothly and efficiently converted
into the cyclic carbonate (Table 1, entry 2). Both E- and Z-
allyl alcohols were transformed to the corresponding carbo-
nates. It is noteworthy that, when geometric isomers were
used, complete stereoselectivity as well as stereospecificity
was observed in the reactions (Table 1, entries 3 and 4). Allyl
alcohols containing rigid, cyclic olefins were also applicable to
the reaction (Table 1, entry 5). Hydroxy, ester, and silyl
groups were also compatible with this CO2 fixation reaction
(Table 1, entries 6 to 8). Homoallyl alcohols were also
converted into six-membered cyclic carbonates in good
yields (Table 1, entries 9 and 10). These completely stereo-
specific and stereoselective cyclizations are consistent with a
reaction pathway involving a cyclic iodonium intermediate.
The resulting carbonates containing an iodomethyl group
represent synthetically valuable building blocks, because they
can be readily converted into epoxy alcohols and triols.[11]
The successful transformation of allyl and homoallyl
alcohols to cyclic carbonates through CO2 fixation under
extremely mild conditions prompted us to investigate the use
of acetylenic alcohols as substrates (Table 2). An unsubsti-
tuted propargyl alcohol was subjected to the above CO2
fixation reaction to afford a five-membered cyclic carbonate
containing an iodomethylene group in high yield as a sole E-
isomer (Table 2, entry 1). Propargyl alcohols having a variety
of substituents at the propargylic position also trapped CO2 to
give the corresponding carbonates (Table 2, entries 2 to 4).
Internal acetylenic alcohols were employed in the reaction,
giving cyclic carbonates containing a tetrasubstituted olefin
moiety. It is noteworthy that a silyl group directly attached to
an acetylenic carbon atom resulted in a highly efficient
reaction (Table 2, entries 5 to 7). Butynyl alcohols were also
applicable to the reaction, yielding six-membered cyclic
carbonates (Table 2, entry 8). Substituents at the propargylic
position are required for the fixation of CO2 to propargyl
alcohols in conventional methods.[9] However, substrates
without substituents at the propargylic position could be
readily employed in the present system.
Table 1: CO2 fixation with (homo)allyl alcohols and tBuOI.[a]
Entry Alcohol
Solvent
[mL]
t
[h]
Carbonate
Yield
[%]
THF
(3)
1
2
12
3
1
2
92
93
THF
(3)
DMF
(2)
3
4
5
6
7
8
24
48
24
48
48
24
3
4
5
6
7
57
78
72
79
81
MeCN
(3)
DMF
(3)
MeCN
(3)
Although the precise mechanism of the reaction is unclear
at present, the proposed mechanism shown in Scheme 2B is
supported by experimental findings. In the reaction, tBuOCl
is added to a solution of the alcohol and NaI under an
atmosphere of CO2. NMR spectra indicated that tBuOCl does
not react with either the alcohol or CO2 under these
conditions. Thus, it is likely that tBuOCl reacts rapidly with
NaI, leading to the production of tBuOI. Thus, the question
arises as to which two reagents of the three present (a
saturated alcohol, tBuOI, and CO2) react first. To address this
MeCN
(3)
MeCN
(3)
8
9
86
84
THF
(3)
9
24
72
issue, the reaction of allyl alcohol and tBuOI was monitored
MeCN
(3)
1
10
10 92
=
by H NMR spectroscopy, and small signals assigned to H2C
CHCH2OI were observed (most of the starting allyl alcohol
remained unreacted). The O-iodinated allyl alcohol could be
considered as an active intermediate, so the species prepared
[a] Reaction conditions: CO2 (1 atm), alcohols (0.5 mmol), tBuOI
(1 mmol), À208C.
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Table 2: CO2 fixation with acetylenic alcohols and tBuOI.[a]
(6 g, 0.04 mol) under 1 atm of CO2 in THF (0.12 L) at À208C,
Entry Alcohol
THF
[mL]
t
Carbonate
Yield
[%]
producing the corresponding cyclic carbonate 1 in 82% yield
(3.8 g). This result indicates that the present system should be
applicable to larger-scale process.
[h]
From the results of the present study and on the basis of
the proposed main reaction pathway, a non-metal, non-basic,
non-pressurized method was developed, representing a new,
low-energy process for the chemical fixation of CO2. The
simple methodology has a very broad scope in terms of both
olefinic and acetylenic alcohols, thus allowing access to a wide
range of cyclic carbonates. Moreover, iodo substituents
attached to sp3- and sp2-hybridized carbon atoms are versatile
functional groups for organic synthesis. We conclude that the
results herein describe an innovative CO2 fixation process
that involves simple and convenient chemical manipulation
and proceeds under extremely mild conditions.
1
3
3
5
5
5
5
3
3
11 92
2
3
4
5
6
7
24
24
24
24
24
24
12 92
13 90
14 80
15 71
16 70
17 94
Experimental Section
Typical procedure for CO2 fixation: tBuOCl (108.5 mg, 1.0 mmol)
was added to a mixture of NaI (150 mg, 0.5 mmol) and an unsaturated
alcohol (0.5 mmol) in an appropriate solvent under 1 atm of CO2 at
À208C. The mixture was stirred in the dark for the indicated time and
quenched with aqueous Na2S2O3 (0.5m, 5 mL), and the solution was
extracted with diethyl ether (4 ꢀ 20 mL). The combined organic
extracts were dried over Na2SO4 and concentrated under vacuum to
give the crude product. Purification by flash column chromatography
(silica gel; ethyl acetate/hexane 2:8) gave a cyclic carbonate (for
example, compound 1: 105 mg, 92%).
Received: November 11, 2009
Published online: January 18, 2010
Keywords: alcohols · carbon dioxide fixation · cyclization ·
.
iodine
8
2
24
18 64
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from the reaction of sodium allyloxide and I2 was exposed to
CO2, but the desired reaction did not occur. Instead, the
formation of acrolein was observed. In fact, when the
efficiency of the reaction is less than ideal (for example,
Table 1, entry 3), the corresponding oxidation product, an
a,b-unsaturated aldehyde, was obtained. The reaction of
tBuOI and CO2 was then monitored by means of NMR (1H
and 13C) and IR spectroscopy and electrospray ionization
mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), but no reaction was observed.
Therefore, as expected initially, CO2 fixation appears to
proceed through an allyl carbonic acid intermediate, as shown
in Scheme 2B. The very low concentration of allyl carbonic
acid would react with tBuOI, leading to an O-iodinated
species, which acts as an iodonium source, and a cyclic
iodonium intermediate is formed by reaction with carbon–
carbon unsaturated moieties. The generation of a cyclic
iodonium intermediate explains the complete stereoselectiv-
ity observed in these reactions.
To assess the scope of this method, a gram-scale reaction
was carried out. Allyl alcohol (1.16 g, 0.02 mol) was treated
with tBuOI prepared from tBuOCl (4.3 g, 0.04 mol) and NaI
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