Metal triflate catalysed organic transformations

Ph.D.The research described in this thesis was directed at advancing the application of metal triflates, Al(OTf)3 in particular, in organic synthesis, on the one hand and to contribute to the understanding of the underlying basis for their catalytic activity. The study was undertaken against the background and on the bases of a detailed literature study of metal triflates, their chemical and catalytic properties and applications thereof. Amongst others, it deals with the possible role of metal-bound water that give rise to Brønsted type acidity and that this induced Brønsted acidity may be responsible for the catalytic activity that is observed. The study was prompted by the realisation that Al(OTf)3 was largely neglected as a potential reusable catalyst. This is in marked contrast to the attention paid to other metal triflates, the rare earth metals in particular. Earlier work in this laboratory has shown that Al(OTf)3 is stable in water from which it can be recovered easily for reuse. In addition it showed promise as a Lewis acid catalyst and is relatively soluble in several organic solvents. New applications for the use of Al(OTf)3 have now been demonstrated. These include the efficient formation of acetals from aldehydes and ketones. The conversions can be carried out in an alcohol/orthoester mixture or preferably in neat orthoester. Other metal triflates, notably Sc(OTf)3 and In(OTf)3, are useful alternative catalysts. Al(OTf)3 can be easily recycled without loss of activity. This methodology also can be applied to aldehydes and ketones containing TBDMS groups without effecting deprotection of the ethers. In view of the sensitivity of the TBDMS groups to hydrolysis in the presence of triflic acid the results suggest little hydrolysis (or alcoholysis) of the metal triflates in the protic solvents used, which would generate trifluoromethanesulfonic acid as a consequence of such metal based hydrolysis. Al(OTf)3 was also found to be a good catalyst for the formation of THP ethers. It proved to be excellent for Friedel Crafts reactions using alkynes as substrates. Al(OTf)3 together with other triflates offers a mild alternative to the more traditional water sensitive Lewis acids, e.g. BF3, AlCl3 and TiCl4, which are difficult to recover and require the use of extremely dry solvents