Diastereoselective liquid assisted grinding: ‘cracking’ functional resins to advance chromatography-free synthesis

Abstract

As regulations that restrict the use of organic solvents become more stringent, ball milling remains an attractive substitute for traditional organic synthesis. However, the mechanochemistry community does not have a purification pathway to complement the solvent-free, ball milling process. Functional resins have proven to be powerful synthetic tools that simplify purification, but traditional handling of these resins restricts their utility, as hazardous organic solvents are needed to swell the resin. Ball milling the functional resin exposes the functional groups as a function of surface area. This report details the use of ball milling and functional resins to perform an environmentally attractive version of the Wittig reaction.