A high yielding, one-pot synthesis of dialkyl carbonates from alcohols using Mitsunobu’s reagent

Synthesis of Carbonates from Alcohols and CO2

Alcohols are ubiquitous compounds in nature that offer modular building blocks for synthetic chemistry. Here we discuss the most recent development of different classes of alcohols and their coupling chemistry with carbon dioxide as to afford linear and cyclic carbonates, the challenges associated with their formation, and the potential of this chemistry to revive a waste carbon feed stock.

Synthesis of 6-membered cyclic carbonates from 1,3-diols and low CO2 pressure: a novel mild strategy to replace phosgene reagents

Low pressure CO₂ is used for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from 1,3-diols in a novel mild alternative to phosgene derivatives.

Triphenylphosphine Dibromide: A Simple One-pot Esterification Reagent

We report a one-pot, expedient protocol for the conversion of carboxylic acids to their esters using excess triphenylphosphine dibromide, base, and the alcohol. The reaction gave the esterified product in moderate-to-high yields (30-95%). For chiral acids, the reaction proceeded with little or no racemization. Use of a chiral alcohol in this transformation gave the ester with retention of configuration of the stereogenic center. Information is presented indicating that esterification proceeds through the intermediate generation of an acyloxyalkoxyphosphorane and where steric interactions play an important role in the energetics of the reaction.