Epoxide Synthesis in Interfacial Solid-Liquid Conditions

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00289a022

In this paper an analysis of the factors responsible for discrimination among differing structures of organic reagents by the microcrystalline structure of solids is presented.As a vehicle of this study, the epoxide synthesis using three sulfur ylide precursors (sulfonium and sulfoxonium salts) and four microcrystalline solids was investigated.Neither the surface area nor the number of active sites at the solid surface control the epoxide yield.It appears that the cell lattice of the solid determines the ylide structure, its nucleophilicity, and thus the reaction yield.