A process for the preparation of ketones

Abstract: The present invention relates to the preparation of aminoalkyl p-hydroxyphenyl ketones. Certain of these ketones are well known as important intermediates in the production of compounds having pharmaceutical activity, for example octopamine or synephrine. The known Houben-Hoesch reaction is a variation of the Friedel-Crafts reaction and involves the condensation of a phenolic substrate with a nitrile in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst to give a hydroxy-aryl ketone. It is an object of the invention to provide a new or improved process for the manufacture of aminoalkyl p-hydroxyphenyl ketones. According to the invention, there is provided a process for the preparation of an aminoalkyl p-hydroxyphenyl ketone comprising reacting phenol with a nitrile, in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst, to cause condensation thereof, the process being characterised in that the reaction is carried out in a medium comprising a nitroalkane solvent for the reactants. A preferred but non-limiting feature of the invention is the productiqn of 2'amino-4-hydroxyacetophenones. The present invention is based on the surprising discovery that nitroalkanes are unexpectedly much better solvents for this reaction, being less toxic, giving a better yield and also ensuring a homogeneous reaction medium. The nitroalkanes may also be diluted with a halogenated hydrocarbon solvent, which acts as an inert diluent, thus reducing the amount of nitroalkane used, and making the reaction less hazardous.

Description: The present invention relates to the preparation of aminoalkyl p-hydroxyphenyl ketones. Certain aminoalkyl p-hydroxyphenyl ketones are important intermediates in the production of compounds having pharmaceutical activity. In particular aminoalkyl p-hydroxyphenyl ketones such as the compounds denoted by the general formula: wherein R₁ and R₂ denote hydrogen atoms, alkyl radicals containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms or aryl radicals (the 2'amino 4-hydroxyacetophenones) may be converted by known methods, e.g. by catalytic hydrogenation, to compounds denoted by the formula: where R₁ and R₂ denote hydrogen (octopamine) or where R₁ denotes hydrogen and R₂ denotes the methyl radical (synephrine) which compounds are known as pharmaceuticals. The present invention relates particularly to the above-identified family of ketones. However, operative closely related derivatives, for example derivatives selected from those in which a methylene group hydrogen is substituted by an alkyl radical containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms or a cycloalkyl or an aryl radical are considered to be within the scope of the present invention. The known Houben-Hoesch reaction is a variation of the Friedel-Crafts reaction and involves the condensation of a phenolic substrate with a nitrile in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst to give a hydroxy-aryl ketone. It has been extensively reviewed, e.g. by W. Ruske in Olah, Friedel-Crafts Reactions Vol 3 (1964), and by P.E. Spoerri and A.S. Dubois, in Organic Reactions Vol 5 (1949). It is known that the reaction is very efficient with poly-hydroxybenzenes such as resorcinol or phloroglucinol, needing only mild conditions such as ZnCl₂ in ether, but these conditions fail with phenol, only the phenyl acetimidates being formed. Phenol requires aluminium chloride as catalyst to undergo the Houben-Hoesch reaction and then only with relatively active nitriles such as trichloroacetonitrile. When a less reactive nitrile, such as aminoacetonitrile is required to react with phenol, then even more forcing conditions are needed. M.Asscher, in U.S.Patent 2585988 (1952) and in Receuil travaux chimiques Pays-Bas, 68 , 960 (1949) and 71 , 933 (1952), describes the condensation of phenol, anisole or benzylphenyl ether with aminoacetonitriles, bearing various substituents on the amino group. The reaction is reported not to work with amino-substituted propionitriles or higher nitriles. Asscher found that the usual conditions of ZnCl₂/ether or AlCl₃ in ether or chlorobenzene gave no or little product in this reaction; however the reaction proceeded well in nitro-aromatic solvents, such as nitrobenzene, o-nitrotoluene or o-nitroanisole. The reaction described by Asscher may be summarised by the reaction scheme : in which Ph denotes the phenyl radical. In Asscher's patent, US 2585988, he claims this reaction with nitrobenzene and chlorobenzene as solvents (claim 1). However in example 3 of the same patent, the reaction of phenol and N-methylaminoacetonitrile in chlorobenzene solvent is described, but giving only a 19% yield of the compound of general formula I (R1 = Me, R2 = R3 = H). For the reaction of aminoacetonitrile hydrochloride and phenol with aluminium chloride in nitrobenzene, an isolated yield of 51% is quoted for the free base of the amino-ketone of the general formula I (R1 = R2 = R3 = H). Asscher also uses hydrogen chloride gas as a promoter for the reaction and determines the optimum amount of AlCl₃ used as 2.25 moles per mole of starting nitrile. In attempting to repeat the work of Assher, we have found a number of problems. In the first place, the use of nitrobenzene is not recommended because, unlike Asscher, we have found that the reaction mixture is not homogeneous and foaming can be a problem when the hydrogen chloride gas is admitted. This is because the aminonitrile and aluminum chloride do not form a soluble complex in nitrobenzene and the nitrobenzene thus has to be present in a large excess to control this foaming. Nitrobenzene is also unsuitable because of its toxicity, having a TWA of 1 ppm. Furthermore the use of mixtures of nitrobenzene, aluminium chloride and phenol has been shown to be hazardous (Chem. Eng. News 1953, 31 , 4915). We were able to achieve a yield of only 45-50% when repeating the reaction of aminoacetonitrile and phenol under the conditions described by Asscher, the aminoketone formed having a purity of <95% by non-aqueous titration. The use of chlorobenzene alone was also found to be unsuitable as no compound of general formula I was found. The reaction mixture is also not homogeneous in chlorobenzene. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new or improved process for the manufacture of aminoalkyl p-hydroxyphenyl ketones. According to the present invention, there is provided a process for the preparation of an aminoalkyl p-hydroxyphenyl ketone comprising reacting phenol with a nitrile, in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst, to cause condensation thereof, the process being characterised in that the reaction is carried out in a medium comprising a nitroalkane solvent for the reactants. A preferred but non-limiting feature of the invention is the production of 2'amino-4-hydroxyacetophenones, the nitrile being that denoted by the general formula: R₁R₂N-CH₂-CN wherein R₁ and R₂ denote hydrogen atoms, alkyl radicals containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms, cycloalkyl radicles or aryl radicals, but particularly preferably hydrogen atoms or methyl radicals. In carrying out the present invention, the nitriles and the aminoalkyl p-phenylketones produced may be in the strong inorganic acid form and this is understood to be within the invention as expressed herein. The present invention is based on the surprising discovery that nitroalkanes are unexpectedly much better solvents for this reaction, being less toxic, giving a better yield and also ensuring a homogeneous reaction medium. The nitroalkanes may also be diluted with a halogenated hydrocarbon solvent, which acts as an inert diluent, thus reducing the amount of nitroalkane used, and making the reaction less hazardous. This is despite the fact that the chlorinated hydrocarbons may in themselves be unsuitable as sole solvents for the reaction because they do not permit the formation of a soluble complex of the starting aminonitrile with aluminium chloride. The quantity of nitroalkane required is as little as one mole equivalent based on the aluminium chloride, which is considerably less than the 2.2 mole equivalents of nitrobenzene used in the said US patent. The nitroalkane used is preferably a lower aliphatic nitroalkane, desirably one which is commercially available, such as nitromethane, nitroethane, 2-nitropropane or 1-nitropropane. The amount of nitroalkane required is a minimum of 1 mole per mole aluminium chloride. Preferably we use 1.0 - 2.5 moles nitroalkane per mole aluminium chloride, most preferably 1.2 - 1.6 moles. As stated above, the nitroalkane is preferably mixed with a chlorinated hydrocarbon such as dichloromethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, chlorobenzene or 1,2-dichlorobenzene. The quantity of chlorinated hydrocarbon is preferably 1 - 3 parts per part nitroalkane, parts being by weight. The amount of phenol is preferably at least one mole per mole aminoacetonitrile hydrochloride, and preferably 1.1 - 1.5 moles. The amount of aluminium chloride used is preferably 2.0 - 2.5 moles per mole aminoacetonitrile hydrochloride. The amount of hydrogen chloride gas used is preferably 1 - 2 parts per part aminoacetonitrile hydrochloride. The preferred reaction temperature is 10 - 30°C, and the preferred reaction time after addition of the hydrogen chloride gas is 3 to 18 hrs. The work-up procedure given in US Patent 2585988 and claimed in claim 2 of that patent is not necessary with our process. It is thus not necessary to react the hydrochloride of the compound produced by the reaction with an aqueous solution of an organic hydroxy-acid or its salt, e.g. lactate, tartrate, or citrate in order to maintain the aluminium ions in solution, and then to precipitate the amino-ketone as its free base. Instead the reaction mixture, after a suitable equilibration period which may for example be from 1 hour to 48 hours or more, may be mixed with water to precipitate the product which may often be sufficiently pure for further processing, e.g. by hydrogenation but, if required, it can be further purified by standard methods, e.g. by recrystallisation. The process of the invention is further described by the following examples. Example 1. 2'-Amino-4-hydroxyacetophenone hydrochloride. A suspension of aminoacetonitrile hydrochloride (50 g) and phenol (62.6 g) in nitromethane (250 g) was stirred at 15 - 20°C, and aluminium chloride (175 g) was added with stirring and cooling. Hydrogen chloride gas (78 g) was added over a period of 3 hrs while the temperature was maintained at 15°C. The subsequent clear solution was left to stand for 18 hrs at 20°C, and was then poured slowly into 400 ml of water, cooled to prevent the temperature rising above 30°C. The precipitate of 2'-amino-4-hydroxyacetophenone hydrochloride was filtered off, washed with isopropanol, and dried. The yield of 2'-amino-4-hydroxyacetophenone hydrochloride was 72.7g (71.8%), having a purity of 97% by non-aqueous titration. Examples 2 - 9. These were performed essentially as example 1, except the solvents used and the yields obtained were as shown in the Table, all weights being in grams. Ex Solvent wt Diluent wt Yield Purity % wt % 2 nitroethane 250 none 72.0 70.7 99 3 2-nitropropane 250 none 64.9 63.1 95 4 nitromethane 160 1,2-dichlorobenzene 250 78.5 5 nitromethane 162 chlorobenzene 252 71.2 6 2-nitropropane 160 1,2-dichloroethane 250 51.5 7 nitromethane 120 1,2-dichloroethane 200 77.1 8 nitroethane 122 1,2-dichloroethane 300 63.5 9 nitroethane 175 dichloromethane 300 58.6

Claims: A process for the preparation of an aminoalkyl p-hydroxyphenyl ketone comprising reacting phenol with a nitrile, denoted by the general formula R₁R₂N-CH₂-CN wherein R₁ and R₂ denote hydrogen atoms, alkyl radicals containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms, aryl radicals or cycloalkyl radicals, in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst, to cause condensation thereof, the process being characterized in that the reaction is carried out in a medium comprising a nitroalkane solvent for the reactants. A process as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the nitrile is that denoted by the general formula and in which R₁ and R₂ denote hydrogen atoms or methyl radicals. A process according to any preceding claim, wherein the nitroalkane used is a lower aliphatic nitroalkane. A process according to Claim 3, wherein the nitroalkane is nitromethane, nitroethane, 2-nitropropane, or 1-nitropropane. A process according to any preceding claim, wherein the Lewis acid catalyst is aluminium chloride and the amount of nitroalkane is 1.0 - 2.5 moles nitroalkane per mole aluminium chloride. A process according to claim 5, wherein the amount of nitroalkane is 1.2 - 1.6 moles nitroalkane per mole aluminium chloride. A process according to any preceding claim, wherein the nitroalkane is diluted with a chlorinated hydrocarbon. A process according to claim 7, wherein the chlorinated hydrocarbon is dichloromethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, chlorobenzene or 1,2-dichlorobenzene. A process according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the quantity of chlorinated hydrocarbon is 1 - 3 parts per part nitroalkane, the parts being by weight. A process according to any preceding claim, wherein the nitrile is aminoacetonitrile hydrochloride and the amount of phenol is 1.1 - 1.5 moles per mole aminoacetonitrile hydrochloride.

Inventors: GRAYSON JAMES IAN, HEYES GRAHAM, GRAYSON, JAMES IAN, HEYES, GRAHAM
Applicants: FINE ORGANICS LTD, FINE ORGANICS LIMITED
Application year: 1990
Main classification: C07C221
IPC codes: B01J27, C07C225, C07B61, C07C221