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Published on: May 26, 2019
Cooperative Brønsted acid-type organocatalysis: alcoholysis of styrene oxides
Torsten Weil1, Mike Kotke, Christian M Kleiner
1Institut für Organische Chemie, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 58, Giessen, Germany.
Abstract:
We present a mild and efficient method for the completely regioselective alcoholysis of styrene oxides utilizing a cooperative Brønsted acid-type organocatalytic system comprised of mandelic acid (1 mol %) and N,N'-bis-[3,5-bis-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-thiourea (1 mol %). Various styrene oxides are readily transformed into their corresponding beta-alkoxy alcohols in good to excellent yields at full conversion. Simple aliphatic and sterically demanding, as well as unsaturated and acid-sensitive alcohols can be employed.
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