Rearrangement of 4-Perfluoroalkyl Quinols

Article abstract of DOI:10.1246/bcsj.64.842

Treatment of 4-perfluoroalkyl-4-hydroxy-2,5-hexadien-1-one (4-perfluoroalkyl-4-quinol), prepared from the reaction of 1,4-benzoquinone with perfluoroalkyllithium, with acetic anhydride-sulfuric acid gave a mixture of 2,4-diacetoxy-1-perfluoroalkylbenzene and 1,2-diacetoxy-4-perfluoroalkylbenzene in a comparable ratio.When 4-perfluoroalkyl-4-quinols bearing a methyl group ortho to the perfluoroalkyl group were subjected to the rearrangement, acetoxymethyl compounds were obtained in addition to diacetoxybenzene derivatives.Only 1,3-migration was observed in the cases of 2,4-di-t-butyl-4-perfluorooctyl-4-quinol and 4-hydroxy-4-perfluoroalkyl-1(4H)-naphthalenone, while the reaction of 2,6-dimethyl and 2-methoxy derivatives gave only 1,2-shift products.Reaction routes to the apparent 1,2- and 1,3-acetoxyl migration products are discussed.