1664
Ketalization of Ketones to 1,3-Dioxolanes and Concurring Self-Aldolization Catalyzed
J. Braz. Chem. Soc.
might be destroyed. Usually this protection is accomplished
by the reaction of the carbonyl compound with ethylene
glycol in the presence of an acid catalyst.9 The products
are usually referred to as an acetal if prepared from an
aldehyde, or ketal, if formed from a ketone. They contain
the backbone of the 5-membered 1-3-dioxolane ring.
This ring must be hydrolyzed in the presence of an acid
catalyst, to liberate the ethylene glycol and the carbonyl
compound after the desired transformation. Apart from
the great importance of such protection and deprotection
reactions, some ketals are useful themselves, such as those
from glycerol; these ketals can be used as precursors for the
synthesis of monoglycerides, as food emulsifiers,10 as chiral
building blocks in organic synthesis11 or as fuel additives
for biodiesel.12 1,3-Dioxolanes have also been shown to
exhibit antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and
Gram-negative bacteria and can be used as antiseptics
for sterilization of working surfaces and instruments.13
The six-membered ring ketals, or m-dioxanes, are also of
interest for the pharmacy and fuel industries.14 We now
report that reactions such as equation 3 can be greatly
enhanced by microwave irradiation using our hydrophilic
catalyst and that the procedure can be extended to other
polyols such as trimethylol propane, neopentyl glycol and
crude glycerol. In the absence of alcohols, the ketones
tested were rapidly protonated to produce aldol condensates
(equation 4), except for benzophenone.
as KBr pellets in the 4000-400 cm-1 range on a Varian 640
spectrophotometer operating in the FT mode. X-ray
diffraction (XRD) patterns were collected on a Rigaku
diffractometer at 30 kV and 20 mA using CuKα radiation.
Differential thermal analysis (DTA) was carried out using a
PerkinElmer 1700 analyzer. Ketal contents and yields were
determined with a gas chromatography mass spectrometer
GC-MS-QP 2010 Shimadzu equipped with an AOC 5000
Auto Injector and a 30 m Agilent J&W GC DB-5 MS
column. Direct insertion spectra were measured at 70 eV.
Quantitative analyses were performed on a Shimadzu
GC-2010 gas chromatograph equipped with a flame
1
ionization detector (FID). H and 13C nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR) spectra were recorded on BrukerAvance
400 and Avance 500 spectrometers. All the reactions were
performed under atmospheric pressure, using microwave
irradiation and monitored by thin layer chromatography
(TLC) with Silica Gel 60 F254 on aluminum. The
chromatograms were visualized by UV or by using an
ethanolic vanillin developing agent. Silica gel (Merck
230-400 mesh) was used for purification of products by
flash column chromatography using hexane/ethyl acetate
(8:2) as eluent.
Preparation of the silica gel and the sulfonated silica,
SiO2‑SO3H7
A mixture of 300.0 g of sand and 600.0 g of sodium
carbonate were homogenized and transferred to porcelain
crucibles, which were heated at 850 °C for 4 h. The hot
solid mixtures were transferred to a glass filter frit and
washed with 600-900 mL of boiling water. The filtered
solution was acidified to pH = 1 with hydrochloric acid,
the white precipitate was filtered, and dried at 400 ºC. The
resulting silica was passed through a 24 mesh sieve for
standardization. 10.0 g of the prepared silica was mixed
with 10.0 mL of H2SO4 and stirred at room temperature
for 12 h, filtered and dried at 150 °C for 4 h, cooled and
stored in a desiccator. The acid strength of 1.32 mmol of
H+ per gram of catalyst was determined by potentiometric
titration.
(3)
(4)
Experimental
Raw materials
The alcohols ethylene glycol, 2-ethyl-2-hydroxy-
methylpropane-1,2-diol (trimethylol propane), and
2,2-dimethylpropane-1,3-diol (neopentyl glycol) and
the ketones propanone, cyclohexanone, acetophenone,
4-methylacetophenone and benzophenone were used
as purchased; crude glycerol was obtained from the
transesterification of waste cooking oil with methanol.
Typical procedures
All the reactions were irradiated in an unmodified
microwave (MW) oven (900 GHz)/360 W using an
open 125 mL two-necked round bottom flask and were
accompanied by TLC or GC-MS. Typically, the amount
of catalyst was weighed directly into the flask, and
the desired quantity of the ketone and alcohol, where
applicable, were added, the mixture quickly mixed by
Instrumentation
The infrared spectra of solid samples were recorded