Chemistry:Chugaev elimination

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Chugaev elimination
Named after Lev Chugaev
Reaction type Elimination reaction
Identifiers
RSC ontology ID RXNO:0000538

The Chugaev elimination is a chemical reaction that involves the elimination of water from alcohols to produce alkenes. The intermediate is a xanthate. It is named for its discoverer, the Russian chemist Lev Aleksandrovich Chugaev (1873-1922), who first reported the reaction sequence in 1899.

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In the first step, a xanthate salt is formed out of the alkoxide and carbon disulfide (CS2). With the addition of iodomethane, the alkoxide is transformed into a methyl xanthate.

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At about 200 °C, the alkene is formed by an intramolecular elimination. In a 6-membered cyclic transition state the hydrogen atom is removed from the carbon atom β to the xanthate oxygen in a syn-elimination. The side product decomposes to carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and methanethiol.

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The Chugaev elimination is similar in mechanism to other thermal elimination reactions such as the Cope elimination and ester pyrolysis. Xanthates typically undergo elimination from 120 to 200 °C, while esters typically require 400 to 500 °C and amine oxides routinely react between 80 and 160 °C.

See also

References

  • Latscha, Hans P. (2002). Chemie-Basiswissen. Berlin: Springer. 
  • L. Tschugaeff (1900). "Ueber das Thujen, ein neues bicyclisches Terpen". Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft 33 (3): 3118–3126. doi:10.1002/cber.19000330363. 

External links