A Simple and Mild Esterification Method for Carboxylic Acids Using Mixed Carboxylic-Carbonic Anhydrides

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00205a004

A simple and mild esterification method using mixed carboxylic-carbonic anhydrides has been developed.Simple aliphatic carboxylic esters are prepared in high yields by the reaction of acids with equimolar amounts of chloroformates (2,2,2-trichloroethyl chloroformate is an exception) and triethylamine in the presence of a catalytic amount of 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine.Although aromatic acids give a mixture of the ester, the acid anhydride, and the carbonate under normal conditions utilized in this study, it is found that increasing the amount of 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine drastically decreases the formation of the acid anhydride and the carbonate, affording a satisfactory yield of the ester.This method reaches a limit with sterically hindered acids and the formation of the acid anhydride and the carbonate is favored.