Issue 73, 2016

A review on the advancement of ether synthesis from organic solvent to water

Abstract

Ethers have been synthesized by the different protocols such as Williamson ether synthesis, the Mitsunobu reaction, bimolecular dehydration, the Ullmann method, a transition metal-free coupling reaction between aliphatic alcohols and unsymmetric diaryliodonium salts, room temperature ionic liquid promoted synthesis, Cu(II) catalyzed synthesis, microwave assisted synthesis, and synthesis under solvent free micellar conditions. A good number of homogeneous Bronsted acids and Lewis acid based transition metals have also been reported as catalysts in the etherification of alcohols. The above mentioned pathway has exhibited some drawbacks including their deactivation through decomposition caused by the water formed during the course of the reaction. In many cases these methods also reveal the accumulation of a significant amount of acid at the end of the reaction due to the hydrolysis of Lewis acid catalysts such as metal oxides, which upon neutralization give a considerable amount of salts. A literature survey shows some reports on the use of phase transfer and polymer and clay supported catalysts for the synthesis of symmetrical and unsymmetrical ethers. To a synthetic chemist, an aqueous micellar solution is a good choice as a reaction medium for synthesizing several organic compounds. Micellar conditions are a new direction of study for ether synthesis as they are simple, efficient, economical and environmentally friendly.

Graphical abstract: A review on the advancement of ether synthesis from organic solvent to water

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
18 5月 2016
Accepted
01 7月 2016
First published
21 7月 2016

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 69605-69614

A review on the advancement of ether synthesis from organic solvent to water

S. Mandal, S. Mandal, S. K. Ghosh, P. Sar, A. Ghosh, R. Saha and B. Saha, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 69605 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA12914E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements