“Greener” chemical syntheses using mechanochemical mixing or microwave and ultrasound irradiation

Abstract

Various emerging “greener” strategic pathways, researched primarily in the author's own laboratory, are summarized. They include solvent-free mechanochemical methods that involve the use of hypervalent iodine reagents at room temperature for the synthesis of heterocyclic entities, and useful conversion of ketones into β-keto sulfones and their α-tosyloxy derivatives in high yields. A solvent-free approach that involves microwave (MW) exposure of neat reactants (undiluted) catalyzed by the surfaces of less-expensive and recyclable mineral supports, such as alumina, silica, clay, or “doped” surfaces, is described; it is applicable to a wide range of cleavage, condensation, cyclization, rearrangement, oxidation, and reduction reactions, including rapid one-pot assembly of heterocyclic compounds from in situ generated reactive intermediates. The strategy is adaptable to multi-component reactions, e.g. Ugi and Biginelli reactions, for rapid assembly of a library of compounds. Synthesis of a wide variety of significant precursors and intermediates, namely enones, imines, enamines, nitroalkenes, and oxidized sulfur species, is possible and their value in concise MW synthesis of 2-aroylbenzofurans and thiazole derivatives is illustrated. Ultrasound- and MW-assisted solventless preparation of ionic liquids and their application in alkylation and metal-catalyzed multi-component reactions are described. With a view to consume greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), efficient reaction of epoxides with CO2 provides ready access to cyclic carbonates using only a catalytic amount of recyclable indium-based ionic liquid. MW heating in aqueous reaction media enables expeditious N-alkylation reactions of amines and hydrazines to afford a series of heterocyclic ring systems, such as N-azacycloalkanes, 4,5-dihydropyrazoles, and pyrazolidines. A general and expeditious MW-enhanced nucleophilic substitution approach uses easily accessible starting materials such as halides or tosylates in reaction with alkali azides, thiocyanates, or sulfinates in the absence of any phase transfer catalyst to produce azides, thiocyanates, and sulfones, respectively, wherein a variety of reactive functional groups are tolerated. A three-component condensation (MCC) approach for the synthesis of useful 2-amino-2-chromenes is described using a recyclable nanosized magnesium oxide catalyst in aqueous poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) medium at room temperature. A general greener approach to shape-selective generation of nanomaterials is summarized including their potential application as nanocomposites. © 2007 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.