PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF 3,5-DIOXO CYCLOHEXANE CARBOXYLIC ACID DERIVATIVES

Abstract: A process for the preparation of a cyclohexane compound of the formula I. wherein R represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group, an alkylthioalkyl group or an unsubstituted or substituted phenyl group; and R¹ represents an alkyl group, an unsubstituted or substituted benzyl group, a phenethyl group, a phenoxymethyl group, a 2-thienylmethyl group, an alkoxymethyl group or an alkylthiomethyl group; or a salt of said cyclohexane compound (I), which comprises the consecutive steps of cyclizing an acetonylsuccinic acid di-alkyl ester by reaction with a basic reagent ; reacting the resulting compound with an acyl chloride R¹-CO-Cl ; subjecting the resulting compound to a rearrangement reaction in the presence of a catalyst so as to obtain a compound of formula I ; and optionally converting said compound I into a salt thereof. Said process can be carried out in a single reaction vessel without isolation and purification of the intermediate compounds.

Description: The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of cyclohexane derivatives having plant-growth regulating activities. Said derivatives are disclosed in European patent application n o 0123001, of which the present application is a divisional application, and in part in European patent application n o 0126713. The present invention relates more precisely to a process for the preparation of a compound of the formula I. wherein R represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group, an alkylthioalkyl group or an unsubstituted or substituted phenyl group; and R¹ represents an alkyl group, an unsubstituted or substituted benzyl group, a phenethyl group, a phenoxymethyl group, a 2-thienylmethyl group, an alkoxymethyl group or an alkylthiomethyl group; or a salt of said cyclohexane compound (I), which comprises the consecutive steps of : (i) cyclizing a compound of the formula II wherein R is as defined above, in the presence of a basic reagent, to produce a compound of the formula III wherein R is as defined above, and M′ is an alkali metal, (ii) optionally treating the compound of formula III with an acid to produce a compound of formula IV (iii) reacting a compound of formula III or a compound of formula IV with a compound of formula V wherein R¹ is as defined above, to produce a compound of formula VI wherein R and R¹ are as defined above, (iv) subjecting the compound of formula VI to a rearrangement reaction in the presence of a catalyst so as to obtain a compound of formula I, and (v) if desired, reacting the compound of the formula I with an inorganic or organic cation to produce a salt of the compound I. The alkyl group which R may represent in the general formula (I) includes those containing 1 to 8 carbon atoms, for example, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, iso-butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, n-pentyl, and iso-pentyl groups. The alkyl group which R¹ may represent includes those of 1 to 8 carbon atoms, such as methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, iso-butyl, n-pentyl, n-hexyl, n-heptyl and n-octyl groups. The substituent on the substituted phenyl group which R may represent, as well as the substituent on the substituted benzyl group which R¹ may represent may be a lower alkyl group of 1 to 4 carbon atoms such as methyl; halo group such as chloro; and a lower alkoxyl group of 1 to 4 carbon atoms such as methoxy. Typical examples of the compounds of formula (I) which can be prepared by the above-defined process are listed in Table I below. Among the compounds which can be prepared by the claimed process are compounds of the formula wherein R² is a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group and R³ represents an alkyl group. The salt of the new cyclohexane compound according to the general formula (Ia) may be any of the following three types:- (i) A salt of the cyclohexane compound represented by the general formula: wherein R² and R³ are as defined above and M represents an organic or inorganic cation. (ii) A salt of the cyclohexane compound represented by the general formula: wherein R³ and M are as defined above. (iii) A salt of the cyclohexane compound represented by the general formula: wherein R³ and M are as defined above. In the above formulae (Ia), (Ib), (Ic) and (Id), R² is as defined hereinbefore and preferably is a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group such as methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl or iso-butyl, R³ is as defined hereinbefore and preferably is an alkyl group such as mentioned just above, and M stands for an organic or inorganic cation. The inorganic cation here may be the cation of an alkali metal (including ammonium cation), an alkaline earth metal, aluminium, copper, nickel, manganese, cobalt, zinc, iron and silver. The organic cation may be a substituted ammonium ion represented by the formula: wherein R⁴, R⁵, R⁶ and R⁷ each represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl, a hydroxyalkyl, an alkenyl, benzyl, a halogen-substituted benzyl, pyridyl or an alkyl-substituted pyridyl group, or R⁴ and R⁵ taken together form a polymethylene group which may optionally be interrupted by an oxygen atom. Typical examples of the various salts of the formula (Ib), (Ic) or (Id) which can be prepared by the process of this invention are shown in Tables 2-4 below In the accompanying drawings, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 show infrared absorption spectra of Compound Nos. 73, 74, 75, 78, 79, 88 and 94, listed in Tables 2-3, respectively. Table 5 shows the analytical results of nuclear magnetic resonance spectra (in CDCℓ₃) of some of the compounds according to this invention which are indicated with reference to Compound Number as shown in Tables 2-3. The process of the invention can be briefly depicted according to the following reaction equations : wherein R and R¹ are as defined hereinabove for the general formula (I) and M′ is an alkali metal. The 3,5-dioxo-cyclohexanecarboxylic acid alkyl ester alkali metal salt of the above formula (III) may be prepared by reacting an acetonylsuccinic acid di-alkyl ester compound of the formula (II) with a basic reagent in a suitable solvent. This cyclization reaction can be carried out at a temperature ranging from room temperature to the boiling point of the solvent used for a period of 1 to 10 hours. The basic reagent to be used in this reaction includes an alkali metal alcoholate such as sodium methylate, sodium ethylate and potassium tert-butoxide or an alkali metal hydride such as sodium hydride. Examples of the solvent used here may be methanol, ethanol, benzene, toluene, xylene, N,N-dimethylformamide, dimethylsulfoxide and dimethylcellosolve. The 3,5-dioxo-cyclohexanecarboxylic acid or its alkyl ester compound of the formula (IV) can be made by treatment of the compound (III) prepared as above with an acid such as hydrochloric acid. The compound of the above formula (VI) can be prepared by condensing the compound (III) or (IV) in an inert organic solvent with an organic acid chloride of the formula (V) where R¹ is as defined hereinbefore, in the presence or absence of γ-picoline and in the presence or absence of a base. This condensation reaction may be carried out at a temperature in the range from -20°C to the boiling point of the solvent when used, and preferably at or below ambient temperature. The reaction time may vary from 10 minutes to 7 hours depending upon the reaction conditions employed. The base which may optionally be used in this reaction includes any of such acid-binding agents which are generally employed for the conventional dehydrohalogenation, for example, organic bases such as trimethylamine, triethylamine, diethylamine, dimethylamine or pyridine and inorganic bases such as sodium or potassium hydroxide. The solvent available for this reaction may include water and/or organic solvents such as toluene, benzene, xylene, dichloromethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, N,N-dimethylformamide, dimethylsulfoxide and methylcellosolve. This condensation reaction is conveniently performed with the aid of γ-picoline which will act as phase transition catalyst when using water and organic solvent as the reaction medium. The compounds of formula (I) can be produced by subjecting the intermediate compound of the above formula (VI) to a rearrangement reaction in the presence of a catalyst and an organic solvent at a temperature from room temperature to the boiling point of the solvent for a period of 1 to 10 hours. The catalyst to be used for this rearrangement reaction includes pyridine derivatives such as 4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine, 4-N,N diethylaminopyridine and 4-pyrolidinoaminopyridine; or N-alkylimidazole derivatives such as N-methylimidazole and N-ethylimidazole. The compounds I can be prepared without isolation or purification of said intermediate compounds (III), (IV) and (VI). The salts of the compounds of the formula (I) or (Ia) can be prepared as follows: Thus, for example, an organic or inorganic salt of the new cyclohexane compound may be produced by reacting in an organic solvent a compound of the general formula (I) or (Ia) with one or two or more equivalent proportions of a salt-forming reagent which is chosen from a primary, secondary or tertiary amine, a metal alcoholate, or a metal salt such as a chloride, sulfate, nitrate, acetate or carbonate; or hydride or hydroxide of a metal, for example, an alkali metal such as sodium, potassium; an alkaline earth metal such as calcium, magnesium, barium; aluminium, nickel, copper, manganese, cobalt, zinc, iron or silver. When the compound (I) or (Ia) is reacted with one equivalent proportion of the salt-forming reagent, either the salt formed will be in the form of the salt of the general formula (Ib) as indicated in Table 2 when the group R or R² in the compound of the formula (I) or (Ia) is alkyl, or the salt formed will be in the form of the salt of the general formula (Ic) as indicated in Table 3 when R or R² is hydrogen in the compound (I) or (Ia). If two or more equivalent proportions of the salt-forming reagent is reacted with the compound (I) or (Ia), the salt as formed will take the form of the general formula (Id) as indicated in Table 4, when R or R² is a hydrogen atom in the compound (I) or (Ia). The new compounds of the formula (I) or (Ia) according to this invention may possibly undergo a tautomerism and may be present in the form of tautomeric isomers as shown below, which fall within the scope of this invention. wherein Z denotes R or R² as defined hereinbefore and Y denotes R¹ or R³ as defined hereinbefore. Further, in an aqueous solution, the new compound salt of the formula (Ib) or (Ic) according to this invention may possibly change as shown below:- It may be added that when the cyclohexane compound of the formula (Ia) where R² is an alkyl group, is reacted with a primary, secondary or tertiary amine which may be represented by the formula where R⁴, R⁵ and R⁶ are each as defined hereinbefore but all of R⁴, R⁵ and R⁶ cannot be each a hydrogen atom simultaneously, there is formed such salt of the compound (Ia) which may be deemed as the substituted ammonium salt of the formula Further, when the cyclohexane compound of the formula (Ia) where R² is a hydrogen atom is reacted with a primary, secondary or tertiary amine of the formula (VIII), there is formed such salt of the compound (Ia) which may also be deemed as the substituted ammonium salt of the formula In Tables 2-4, the salts of the new compounds with amine are represented as the type of the substituted ammonium as shown just above. The following examples illustrate invention, without limiting it Example I Preparation of Compound No. 15, namely ethyl 3,5-dioxo-4-butyrylcyclohexanecarboxylate . To 150 mℓ of ethanol containing 3.4 g of sodium was added dropwise 31 g of diethyl acetonylsuccinate (or diethyl acetmethylsuccinate) over about one hour with stirring at ambient temperature. The mixture was heated under reflux for 2 hours and then cooled to room temperature, followed by distillation off of the ethanol under reduced pressure. There was thus obtained a brown viscous liquid comprising sodium salt of ethyl 3,5-dioxocyclohexanecarboxylate as formed, to which were added 100 mℓ of toluene, 50 mℓ of ice water and 0.3 g of γ-picoline and then added dropwise 15 g of n-butyryl chloride at ambient temperature under agitation over about 2 hours. The resultant reaction mixture was agitated for further 30 minutes and then the toluene layer was separated, washed with water, dried and admixed with 0.8 g of 4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine. The admixture was heated with agitation at a temperature of 80-90°C for 3 hours. The toluene was then distilled off from the reaction solution under reduced pressure and the residue was chromatographed on a column of silica gel developed with benzene to given 19.5 g (55.9%) of the object compound (Compound No. 15). Compound Nos. 1, 2 and Nos. 4-44 could be prepared by the same procedure as described in Example 1. Example 2 Preparation of Compound No. 51 (see Table 2) 1.0 g of ethyl 3,5-dioxo-4-propionylcyclohexanecarboxylate was dissolved in 20 mℓ of chloroform, to which was then added 1.0 g of diethylamine as the salt-forming reagent. The mixture was allowed to stand at room temperature for two hours, after which the chloroform and the excess of diethylamine were distilled off from the reaction solution under reduced pressure to yield 1.3 g of the object compound (Compound No. 51) as a pale brown solid and represented by the formula: Example 3 Preparation of Compound No. 54 (see Table 2) 4.0 g of ethyl 3,5-dioxo-4-propionylcyclohexanecarboxylate was dissolved in 50 mℓ of ethanol and 1.7 g of diethanolamine was added to the solution, followed by stirring for 30 minutes. The ethanol was then distilled off from the reaction solution under reduced pressure to precipitate a crystal, which was washed with ethyl ether and dried to afford 5.2 g of the object compound as a pale yellow crystal having a melting point of 76-78°C. Example 4 Preparation of Compound No. 63 1.0 g of triethylamine was added to 1.0 g of ethyl 3,5-dioxo-4-propionylcyclohexanecarboxylate dissolved in 20 mℓ of chloroform, and the resultant mixture was allowed to stand at ambient temperature for 2 hours. The chloroform and the excess triethylamine were distilled off from the reaction solution under reduced pressure to yield 1.4 g of the desired compound (Compound No. 63) in the form of brown viscous liquid with a refractive index n 20 / D = 1.5098. Example 5 Preparation of Compound No. 73 1.0 g of potassium salt of ethyl 3,5-dioxo-4-propionylcyclohexanecarboxylate was dissolved in water, to which was added 0.25 g of calcium chloride. The mixture was allowed to stand overnight to effect the cation-exchange reaction, after which the reaction solution was concentrated by evaporation of the water. The concentrated solution was extracted with hot ethanol and the ethanolic extract was admixed with hexane to precipitate a crystal. The latter was filtered and dried to give 0.7 g of the aimed compound as a colorless powder having a melting point of 213-215°C. Example 6 Preparation of Compound No. 74 To 8.4 g of ethyl 3,5-dioxo-4-propionylcyclohexanecarboxylate dissolved in 80 mℓ of ethyl ether was added dropwise under agitation at room temperature 50 mℓ of ethanolic solution containing 1.4 g of sodium hydroxide. After completion of the addition, the precipitated crystal was collected by filtration and dried. Recrystallization from a mixed solvent of ethanol and hexane gave 7.2 g of the desired sodium salt compound as colorless needles with a melting point of 178.5-179.5°C. Example7 Preparation of Compound No. 78 2.0 g of ethyl 4-butyryl-3,5-dioxo-cyclohexanecarboxylate was added into ethanol containing 0.53 g of sodium ethylate, and the mixture was allowed to stand at room temperature for 3 hours. The ethanol was then distilled off from the reaction solution under reduced pressure to yield 2.17 g of the desired sodium salt as a pale yellow amorphous solid. Example 8 Preparation of Compound No. 91 0.84 g of sodium bicarbonate was added to 2.1 g of 3,5-dioxo-4-propionylcyclohexanecarboxylic acid dissolved in 30 mℓ of ethanol, and the mixture was heated under reflux for 3 hours. The reaction solution was then cooled and filtered to leave a crystal, which was recrystallized from ethanol to give 2.2 g of the desired compound as pale yellow flakes with a melting point of 225°C (decomp.). Example 9 Preparation of Compound No. 93 (see Table 4) 1.4 g (6.6 m moles) of 3,5-dioxo-4-propionylcyclohexanecarboxylic acid was dissolved in 30 mℓ of ethanol, and 0.7 g (6.6 m moles) of anhydrous sodium carbonate was added to the solution. The resultant mixture was heated under reflux for 6 hours, after which the reaction solution was cooled and filtered to leave a crystal. Recrystallization of the crystal from a mixed solvent of ethanol, methanol and hexane gave 1.3 g of the desired di-sodium salt compound as a pale yellow powder having a melting point of 240°C (decomp.).

Claims: A process for the preparation of a cyclohexane compound of the formula I. wherein R represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group, an alkylthioalkyl group or an unsubstituted or substituted phenyl group; and R¹ represents an alkyl group, an unsubstituted or substituted benzyl group, a phenethyl group, a phenoxymethyl group, a 2-thienylmethyl group, an alkoxymethyl group or an alkylthiomethyl group; or a salt of said cyclohexane compound (I), which comprises the consecutive steps of : (i) cyclizing a compound of the formula II wherein R is as defined above, in the presence of a basic reagent, to produce a compound of the formula III wherein R is as defined above, and M′ is an alkali metal, (ii) optionally treating the compound of formula III with an acid to produce a compound of formula IV (iii) reacting a compound of formula III or a compound of formula IV with a compound of formula V wherein R¹ is as defined above, to produce a compound of formula VI wherein R and R¹ are as defined above, (iv) subjecting the compound of formula VI to a rearrangement reaction in the presence of a catalyst so as to obtain a compound of formula I, and (v) if desired, reacting the compound of the formula I with an inorganic or organic cation to produce a salt of the compound I. A process according to claim 1, which comprises the consecutive steps of:- (i) cyclizing an acetonylsuccinic acid di-alkyl ester of the formula (II) wherein R is as defined in claim 1, by reacting it with a basic agent selected from alkali metal alcoholates and alkali metal hydrides in a suitable solvent at a temperature of from room temperature to the boiling point of the solvent used, to produce a 3,5-dioxo-cyclohexane-carboxylic acid alkyl ester alkali metal salt of the formula (III) wherein R is as defined above and M′ is the alkali metal, (ii) optionally treating the compound of the formula (III) with an acid to produce a 3,5-dioxo-cyclohexanecarboxylic acid or its alkyl ester compound of the formula (IV) wherein R is as defined above, (iii) reacting a compound of the formula (III): or a compound of the formula (IV): wherein R is as defined above and M′ is an alkali metal atom, with an organic acid chloride compound of the formula (V): wherein R¹ is as defined in claim 1, in an inert organic solvent and/or water as the reaction medium in the presence or absence of gamma-picoline as a phase-transition catalyst and in the presence or absence of a base as an acid-binding agent at a temperature of from -20°C to the boiling point of the solvent used, to produce a compound of the formula (VI): wherein R and R¹ are as defined above, (iv) subjecting the compound of the formula (VI) in an organic solvent to intramolecular rearrangement at a temperature of from room temperature to the boiling point of the solvent used, in the presence of a catalyst chosen among pyridine derivatives and N-alkylimidazole derivatives, to produce a compound of the formula (I): wherein R and R¹ are as defined above, and (v) if desired, reacting the compound of the formula (I) with an inorganic or organic cation to produce the salt of the compound (I) with said inorganic or organic cation. A process according to claim 1 or 2, in which the step of reacting the compound (III) or (IV) with an organic acid chloride (V) to produce the compound (VI) is carried out in a mixture of water and an organic solvent and in the presence of gamma -picoline as the phase-transition catalyst. A process according to any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the step of subjecting the compound (VI) to the intramolecular rearrangement to produce the compound (I) is carried out in the presence of a catalyst which is chosen among 4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine, 4-N,N-diethylaminopyridine, 4-pyrolidinoaminopyridine, N-methylimidazole and N-ethyl-imidazole. A process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, in which the steps (i),(iii) and (iv) of the process are carried out consecutively in a single reaction vessel without isolation and purification of the intermediate products of formulas (III), (IV) and (VI) by such procedures wherein a mixture of a compound of formula (II) and an alkali metal alcoholate dissolved in a solvent selected from methanol and ethanol, is heated to conduct the step (i) reaction, the reaction solution from the step (i) reaction is distilled under reduced pressure to remove the solvent from said reaction solution, toluene and water are added to the resultant product comprising the reaction product of formula (III), then an organic acid chloride of formula (V) is added, the resulting mixture is agitated to conduct the reaction of the step (iii) between the compound (III) and the compound (V), the resulting toluene layer containing the reaction product of formula (VI) and the alkali metal chloride is washed with water and is admixed with a catalyst selected from 4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine, 4-N,N-diethylaminopyridine, 4-pyrolidinoaminopyridine, N-methylimidazole and N-ethylimidazole, and the resulting organic solution containing the compound (VI) and said catalyst is heated and agitated to conduct the step (iv) of the intramolecular rearrangement of the compound of formula (VI) to produce the compound of the formula (I). A process for the production of a cyclohexane compound represented by the general formula (I′): wherein R a represents an alkyl group and R b represents an alkyl group, or a salt of said cyclohexane compound, which comprises the steps of:- (i) cyclizing an acetonylsuccinic acid di-alkyl ester of the formula (II′) wherein R a is as defined above, by reacting it with an alkali metal alcoholate in a solvent selected from methanol or ethanol at a temperature of from room temperature to the boiling point of the solvent used, to produce a 3,5-dioxo-cyclohexanecarboxylic acid alkyl ester alkali metal salt of the formula (III′) wherein R a is as defined above and M′ is the alkali metal, (ii) distilling the resulting reaction mixture containing the formula (III′) as produced, to remove the solvent from said reaction mixture and to prepare a slurry of the compound of the formula (III′) dispersed in toluene, (iii) adding to the resulting slurry of the compound of the formula (III′): in the toluene dropwise an organic acid chloride compound of the formula (V′): wherein R b is as defined above, at a temperature of from -20°C to the boiling point of the solvent used, to produce the compound of the formula (VI′): wherein R a and R b are as defined above, as a solution of the compound (VI′) in toluene, (iv) subjecting the compound of the formula (VI′) dissolved in toluene to intramolecular rearrangement at a temperature of from room temperature to the boiling point of the toluene, in the presence of a catalyst which is chosen from 4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine, 4-N,N-diethylaminopyridine, 4-pyrolidinoaminopyridine, 4-methylimidazole and N-ethylimidazole, to produce the compound of the formula (I′): wherein R a and R b are as defined above, and (v) if desired, reacting the compound of the formula (I′) with an inorganic or organic cation to produce the salt of the compound (I′) with said inorganic or organic cation.

Inventors: HOKARI, HIROSHI, KUSANO, SHOJI, MATSUZAWA, MASAFUMI, MIYAZAWA, TAKESHIGE, MOTOJIMA, KENJI, TOYOKAWA, YASUFUMI
Applicants: IHARA CHEMICAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD., KUMIAI CHEMICAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
Application year: 1983
Main classification: C07C69
IPC codes: C07C51, C07D333, C07C67, C07C62, C07C69, A01N37