Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Ethers from Alcohols: Alcohol Dehydration and Williamson Ether Synthesis

Ethers from Alcohols: Alcohol Dehydration and Williamson Ether Synthesis

Overview
Ethers can be prepared from organic compounds by various methods. Some of them are discussed below,
Preparation of Ethers by Alcohol Dehydration
In this method, in the presence of protic acids, alcohol dehydrates to produce alkenes and ethers under different conditions. For example, in the presence of sulphuric acid, dehydration of ethanol at 413 K yields ethoxyethane, whereas it yields ethene at 443 K.

Regioselective Formation of Enolates

Regioselective Formation of Enolates

As depicted in the figure below, the unsymmetrical ketones can form two possible enolates: less substituted or more substituted enolates. Usually, the thermodynamic enolates are formed from the more substituted α-carbon atom, while the kinetic enolates are formed faster by deprotonation from the less substituted position. The thermodynamic enolates have lower energy, so they are more stable. But the energy required to form kinetic enolates is less.

Intramolecular Claisen Condensation of Dicarboxylic Esters: Dieckmann Cyclization

Intramolecular Claisen Condensation of Dicarboxylic Esters: Dieckmann Cyclization

Dieckmann cyclization is an intramolecular Claisen condensation of diesters. The reaction occurs in the presence of a base and generates a cyclic β-ketoester as the final product. Commonly, 1, 6 and 1, 7-diesters are preferred substrates for the reaction since the generated five, and six-membered cyclic β-keto esters are particularly more stable.

Diels–Alder Reaction Forming Bridged Bicyclic Products: Stereochemistry

Diels–Alder Reaction Forming Bridged Bicyclic Products: Stereochemistry

Diels–Alder reactions between cyclic dienes locked in an s-cis configuration and dienophiles yield bridged bicyclic products.

Preparation of Epoxides

Preparation of Epoxides

Overview
Epoxides result from alkene oxidation, which can be achieved by a) air, b) peroxy acids, c) hypochlorous acids, and d) halohydrin cyclization.
Epoxidation with Peroxy Acids
Epoxidation of alkenes via oxidation with peroxy acids involves the conversion of a carbon–carbon double bond to an epoxide using the oxidizing agent meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid, commonly known as MCPBA. Since the O–O bond of peroxy acids is very weak, the addition of electrophilic oxygen of...

β-Dicarbonyl Compounds via Crossed Claisen Condensations

β-Dicarbonyl Compounds via Crossed Claisen Condensations

Crossed Claisen condensations are base-promoted reactions between two different ester molecules producing β-dicarbonyl compounds. The reaction involving esters, with both containing α hydrogen, results in a mixture of four different products that are difficult to isolate. This reduces the synthetic utility of the reaction.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Mitochondria-related pathogenic genes in acute and chronic kidney disease: a Mendelian randomization study.

Renal failure·2026

Same author

Regulatory role of protein lactylation in tumor metastasis: mechanisms and emerging therapeutic strategies.

Journal of advanced research·2026

Same author

A novel nutritional tool to identify infants at risk of stunting.

Frontiers in pediatrics·2026

Same author

Hypoxia-driven immune resistance to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy: Mechanistic insights and therapeutic opportunities.

Pharmacological research·2026

Same author

From real-world pharmacovigilance data to clinical practice: a geriatric-specific predictive model for immune-related adverse events in lung cancer based on routine clinical indicators.

BMC geriatrics·2026

Same author

Gut microbiota dysbiosis-induced chronic inflammation as a driver of atherosclerosis: cellular crosstalk and host-microbe interactions.

Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 21, 2025

Synthesis of a Thiol Building Block for the Crystallization of a Semiconducting Gyroidal Metal-sulfur Framework

Synthesis of a Thiol Building Block for the Crystallization of a Semiconducting Gyroidal Metal-sulfur Framework

Published on: April 9, 2018

Diaryl Ether Formation by a Versatile Thioesterase Domain.

Qian Wei¹, Ze-Ping Wang¹, Xiao Zhang¹

¹College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, People's Republic of China.

Journal of the American Chemical Society

|May 31, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study reveals a novel nonoxidative pathway for enzymatic diaryl ether formation, utilizing a thioesterase domain from a polyketide synthase. This discovery challenges previous understanding of diaryl ether biosynthesis.

More Related Videos

Constructing Thioether/Vinyl Sulfide-tethered Helical Peptides Via Photo-induced Thiol-ene/yne Hydrothiolation

Constructing Thioether/Vinyl Sulfide-tethered Helical Peptides Via Photo-induced Thiol-ene/yne Hydrothiolation

Published on: August 1, 2018

Facile Preparation of 2Z,4E-Dienamides by the Olefination of Electron-deficient Alkenes with Allyl Acetate

Facile Preparation of 2Z,4E-Dienamides by the Olefination of Electron-deficient Alkenes with Allyl Acetate

Published on: June 21, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 21, 2025

Synthesis of a Thiol Building Block for the Crystallization of a Semiconducting Gyroidal Metal-sulfur Framework

Synthesis of a Thiol Building Block for the Crystallization of a Semiconducting Gyroidal Metal-sulfur Framework

Published on: April 9, 2018

Constructing Thioether/Vinyl Sulfide-tethered Helical Peptides Via Photo-induced Thiol-ene/yne Hydrothiolation

Constructing Thioether/Vinyl Sulfide-tethered Helical Peptides Via Photo-induced Thiol-ene/yne Hydrothiolation

Published on: August 1, 2018

Facile Preparation of 2Z,4E-Dienamides by the Olefination of Electron-deficient Alkenes with Allyl Acetate

Facile Preparation of 2Z,4E-Dienamides by the Olefination of Electron-deficient Alkenes with Allyl Acetate

Published on: June 21, 2017

Area of Science:

Biochemistry
Enzymology
Natural Product Biosynthesis

Background:

Diaryl ethers are commonly formed via oxidative coupling or rearrangement.
Enzymatic nonoxidative diaryl ether generation has not been previously characterized.
Understanding novel biosynthetic pathways is crucial for natural product discovery.

Purpose of the Study:

To characterize a novel enzymatic mechanism for nonoxidative diaryl ether formation.
To elucidate the catalytic process of a thioesterase domain in diaryl ether biosynthesis.
To explore alternative strategies for generating diaryl ether compounds.

Main Methods:

Discovery and characterization of a thioesterase (TE) domain from the nonreducing polyketide synthase (nrPKS) AN7909.
Biochemical analyses using synthetic mimic substrates.
Site-directed mutagenesis to probe the catalytic mechanism.

Main Results:

Identified a TE domain catalyzing diaryl ether formation via a nonoxidative route.
Elucidated a multi-step process involving esterification, Smiles rearrangement, and hydrolysis.
Provided mechanistic insights through mutant analysis and substrate studies.

Conclusions:

The discovered TE domain represents a novel enzymatic strategy for diaryl ether biosynthesis.
This finding expands the known repertoire of PKS-associated enzyme functions.
The characterized pathway offers new avenues for synthetic biology and drug discovery.