Jones oxidation

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Jones oxidation
Named after Ewart Jones
Reaction type Organic redox reaction
Identifiers
Organic Chemistry Portal jones-oxidation
RSC ontology ID RXNO:0000356

The Jones oxidation is an organic reaction for the oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to carboxylic acids and ketones, respectively. It is named after its discoverer, Sir Ewart Jones. The reaction was an early method for the oxidation of alcohols. Its use has subsided because milder, more selective reagents have been developed, e.g. Collins reagent. [1]

Contents

The Jones oxidation Jones Oxidation Scheme.png
The Jones oxidation

Jones reagent is a solution prepared by dissolving chromium trioxide in aqueous sulfuric acid. To effect a Jones oxidation, this acidic mixture is then added to an acetone solution of the substrate. Alternatively, potassium dichromate can be used in place of chromium trioxide. The oxidation is very rapid and quite exothermic. Yields are typically high. The reagent is convenient and cheap. However, Cr(VI) compounds are carcinogenic, which deters the use of this methodology.

Stoichiometry and mechanism

Jones reagent will convert primary and secondary alcohols to aldehydes and ketones, respectively. Depending on the reaction conditions, the aldehydes may then be converted to carboxylic acids. For oxidations to the aldehydes and ketones, two equivalents of chromic acid oxidize three equivalents of the alcohol:

2 HCrO4 + 3 RR'C(OH)H + 8 H+ + 4 H2O → 2 [Cr(H2O)6]3+ + 3 RR'CO

For oxidation of primary alcohols to carboxylic acids, 4 equivalents of chromic acid oxidize 3 equivalents of the alcohol. The aldehyde is an intermediate.

4 HCrO4 + 3 RCH2OH + 16 H+ + 11 H2O → 4 [Cr(H2O)6]3+ + 3 RCOOH

The inorganic products are green, characteristic of chromium(III) aquo complexes. [2]

Like many other oxidations of alcohols by metal oxides, the reaction proceeds via the formation of a mixed chromate ester: [3] [4] These esters have the formula CrO3(OCH2R)

CrO3(OH) + RCH2OH → CrO3(OCH2R) + H2O

Like conventional esters, the formation of this chromate ester is accelerated by the acid. These esters can be isolated when the alcohol is tertiary because these lack the α hydrogen that would be lost to form the carbonyl. For example, using tert-butyl alcohol, one can isolate tert-butyl chromate ((CH3)3CO)2CrO2), which is itself a good oxidant. [5]

For those structures with hydrogen alpha to the oxygen, the chromate esters degrade, releasing the carbonyl product and an ill-defined Cr(IV) product:

CrO3(OCH2R) → CrO2OH + O=CHR

The deuterated alcohols HOCD2R oxidize about six times slower than the undeuterated derivatives. This large kinetic isotope effect shows that the C–H (or C–D) bond breaks in the rate-determining step.

The reaction stoichiometry implicates the Cr(IV) species "CrO2OH", which comproportionates with the chromic acid to give a Cr(V) oxide, which also functions as an oxidant for the alcohol. [6]

The oxidation of the aldehydes is proposed to proceed via the formation of hemiacetal-like intermediates, which arise from the addition of the O3CrO-H bond across the C=O bond.

The reagent rarely oxidizes unsaturated bonds.

Illustrative reactions and applications

It remains useful in organic synthesis. [2] [7] A variety of spectroscopic techniques, including Infrared spectroscopy, can be used to monitor the progress of a Jones oxidation reaction. At one time the Jones oxidation was used in breathalyzers.

The principal reagents are Collins reagent, PDC, and PCC. These reagents represent improvements over inorganic chromium(VI) reagents such as Jones reagent.

Historical references

Related Research Articles

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Hydroboration–oxidation reaction is a two-step hydration reaction that converts an alkene into an alcohol. The process results in the syn addition of a hydrogen and a hydroxyl group where the double bond had been. Hydroboration–oxidation is an anti-Markovnikov reaction, with the hydroxyl group attaching to the less-substituted carbon. The reaction thus provides a more stereospecific and complementary regiochemical alternative to other hydration reactions such as acid-catalyzed addition and the oxymercuration–reduction process. The reaction was first reported by Herbert C. Brown in the late 1950s and it was recognized in his receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1979.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dess–Martin periodinane</span> Chemical reagent

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collins reagent</span> Chemical compound

Collins reagent is the complex of chromium(VI) oxide with pyridine in dichloromethane. This metal-pyridine complex, a red solid, is used to oxidize primary alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes and secondary alcohols to the corresponding ketones. This complex is a hygroscopic orange solid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornforth reagent</span> Chemical compound

The pyridinium dichromate(PDC) or Cornforth reagent is a pyridinium salt of dichromate with the chemical formula [C5H5NH]2[Cr2O7]. This compound is named after the Australian-British chemist Sir John Warcup Cornforth (b. 1917) who introduced it in 1962. The Cornforth reagent is a strong oxidizing agent which can convert primary and secondary alcohols to aldehydes and ketones respectively. In its chemical structure and functions it is closely related to other compounds made from hexavalent chromium oxide, such as pyridinium chlorochromate and Collins reagent. Because of their toxicity, these reagents are rarely used nowadays.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dess–Martin oxidation</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collins oxidation</span>

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2
X-
, e.g. compound 6) as detailed here. Since most of these methods employ dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) as oxidant and generate dimethylsulfide, these are often colloquially summarized as DMSO-oxidations. Conceptually, generating an aldehyde and dimethylsulfide from an alcohol and DMSO requires a dehydrating agent for removal of H2O, ideally an electrophile simultaneously activating DMSO. In contrast, methods generating the sulfonium intermediate from dimethylsulfide do not require a dehydrating agent. Closely related are oxidations mediated by dimethyl selenoxide and by dimethyl selenide.

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References

  1. "Chromium-based Reagents". Oxidation of Alcohols to Aldehydes and Ketones. Basic Reactions in Organic Synthesis. 2006. pp. 1–95. doi:10.1007/0-387-25725-X_1. ISBN   0-387-23607-4.
  2. 1 2 Eisenbraun, E. J. (1965). "Cyclooctanone". Organic Syntheses . 45: 28. doi:10.15227/orgsyn.045.0028.
  3. Smith, Michael B.; March, Jerry (2007), Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure (6th ed.), New York: Wiley-Interscience, ISBN   978-0-471-72091-1
  4. Ley, S. V.; Madin, A. (1991). B. M. Trost; I. Fleming (eds.). Comprehensive organic synthesis. Vol. 7. Oxford: Pergamon Press. pp. 253–256.
  5. Fillmore Freeman, "Di-tert-butyl Chromate" Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. doi : 10.1002/047084289X.rd059m
  6. Oxidation in Organic Chemistry. Edited by K. B. Wiberg, Academic Press, NY, 1965.
  7. Meinwald, J.; Crandall, J.; Hymans, W. E. (1965). "Nortricyclanone". Organic Syntheses . 45: 77. doi:10.15227/orgsyn.045.0077.