United States Patent (19) 11 Patent Number: 6,037,477 Ishii Et Al
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USOO6037477A United States Patent (19) 11 Patent Number: 6,037,477 Ishii et al. (45) Date of Patent: Mar. 14, 2000 54) OXIDATION PROCESS OF ETHERS 838909 2/1996 Japan. 75 Inventors: Yasutaka Ishii, 19-21, OTHER PUBLICATIONS Besshohonmachi, Takatsuki-shi, Osaka Ishii et al., J. Org. Chem., vol. 61, pp. 4520-4526 (1996). 569-1112, Tatsuya Nakano, Himeji, Yoshino et al., J. Org. Chem., vol. 62, No. 20, pp. both of Japan 6810–6813 (Oct. 1997). Takeno et al., Aerobic Oxidation by Using N-hydroxyph 73 Assignees: Daicel Chemical Industries, Ltd.; thalimide, 67th Spring Annual Meeting of Chemical Society Yasutaka Ishii, both of Osaka, Japan of Japan, Lecture Draft II, Dec. 1994. 21 Appl. No.: 09/074,604 Primary Examiner Johann Richter ASSistant Examiner-Dominic Keating 22 Filed: May 8, 1998 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, 30 Foreign Application Priority Data LLP May 13, 1997 JP Japan .................................... 9-122526 57 ABSTRACT 51) Int. Cl." .................. C07D 207/404; CO7D 207/448; An ether is oxidized with oxygen under an oxidation catalyst CO7D 487/06; CO7D 207/444 comprising an imide compound (Such as 52 U.S. Cl. .......................... 548/545; 548/548; 548/549; N-hydroxyphthalimide) or the imide compound and a 548/453 co-catalyst to produce the corresponding chain or cyclic 58 Field of Search ..................................... 548/545, 548, ester or anhydride. The co-catalyst may be a transition metal 548/549 compound. The above proceSS provides a process for oxi dizing an ether by oxygen efficiently to produce the corre 56) References Cited sponding oxide (Such as an ester, an hydride) with high conversion and Selectivity. FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 0824962A1 2/1998 European Pat. Off.. 10 Claims, No Drawings 6,037,477 1 2 OXIDATION PROCESS OF ETHERS comprise the imide compound shown by the formula (1) and a co-catalyst. The co-catalyst may comprise a FIELD OF THE INVENTION transition metal compound (Such as an oxide, an organic acid Salt, a inorganic acid Salt, a halide, a This invention relates to a useful oxidation process for complex, and heteropolyacid or Salt thereof) producing a corresponding oxide (Such as a chain or cyclic In the process of the present invention, an ester or an ester, an acid anhydride) from an ether. anhydride may be produced by contacting an ether with oxygen in the presence of the above catalyst. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the specification, “an ether simply refers to “a sub A chain or cyclic ester and an acid anhydride are impor strate”. “An ether' includes not only a chain ether but also tant compounds as an intermediate of a medicine, a perfume a cyclic ether, and a compound having not only Single ether and a dye, a intermediate in organic Synthesis, and a raw bond but plural ether bonds. material of a polymer resin. A chain ester may be produced by esterification of a DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE carboxylic acid and an alcohol. A lactone may be produced 15 INVENTION Imide Compound In the compound shown by the formula by rearrangement reaction of a cyclic ketone by a peracid. (1), the halogen atom, as the Substituents RandR, includes Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 38909/1996 iodine, bromine, chlorine and fluorine atoms. The alkyl (JP-A-8-38909) proposes a process for producing an adipic group includes, for example, methyl, ethyl, propyl, acid by Oxidizing cyclohexanone or cyclohexanol with isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, Sec-butyl, t-butyl, pentyl, hexyl, molecular oxygen in the presence of an oxidation catalyst comprising an imide compound. A process for generating heptyl, octyl, decyl, or other Straight chain or branched chain isocoumarin by oxidizing-isochroman with molecular oxy alkyl groups each having about 1 to 10 carbon atoms. An gen in the presence of the oxidation catalyst comprising the illustrative preferred alkyl group includes alkyl groups hav imide compound is also proposed. ing about 1 to 6 carbon atoms, in particular alkyl groups 25 having about 1 to 4 carbon atoms. However, a process for producing a corresponding ester AS the aryl group, there may be mentioned, for instance, or acid anhydride from a chain or cyclic ether by an a phenyl group and a naphthyl group. Examples of the oxidation with oxygen has been unknown. cycloalkyl group include cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, and cyclooctyl groups. The alkoxy group includes, for example, SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION methoxy, ethoxy, propoxy, isopropoxy, butoxy, isobutoxy, It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to t-butoxy, pentyloxy, hexyloxy, and other alkoxy groups each provide a useful process for oxidizing an ether with oxygen having about 1 to 10 carbon atoms. Among them, alkoxy efficiently to produce an ester or an acid anhydride. groups having about 1 to 6 carbon atoms, in particular It is another object of the present invention to provide a alkoxy groups having about 1 to 4 carbon atoms are pref 35 erable. proceSS for producing an ester or an acid anhydride from an Examples of the alkoxycarbonyl group include ether by Oxygen under a mild or moderate condition with methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, propoxycarbonyl, high conversion and Selectivity. isopropoxycarbonyl, butoxycarbonyl, isobutoxycarbonyl, The inventors of the present invention did intensive investigation to accomplish the above objects, and as a t-butoxycarbonyl, pentyloxycarbonyl, hexyloxycarbonyl, result, found that an oxide corresponding to an ether may be 40 and other alkoxycarbonyl groups each having about 1 to 10 directly and efficiently produced with a high conversion and carbon atoms in the alkoxy moiety. A preferred alkoxycar Selectivity from the ether using an oxidation catalyst com bonyl group includes those each having about 1 to 6 carbon prising (i) N-hydroxyphthalimide compound or (ii) atoms in the alkoxy moiety, among which alkoxycarbonyl N-hydroxyphthalimide compound and a co-catalyst. groups each having about 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkoxy 45 moiety are typically desirable. Thus, the process of the present invention comprises The acyl group includes, for instance, formyl, acetyl, oxidizing an ether by contacting the ether with oxygen in the propionyl, butyryl, isobutyryl, Valeryl, isoValeryl, pivaloyl, presence of an oxidation catalyst comprising an imide and other acyl groups each having about 1 to 6 carbon atoms. compound shown by the following formula (1), The substituents R and R may be either the same or 50 different from each other. In the formula (1), R' and R may (1) bond together to form a double bond, or an aromatic or non-aromatic ring. A preferred aromatic or non-aromatic w --R C ring may be a ring having about 5 to 12 members, in t Y=x particular about 6 to 10 members. Such a ring may be a N M 55 heterocyclic ring or a condensed heterocyclic ring, and it --R2 C may practically be a hydrocarbon ring. AS Such a ring, there | may be mentioned, for instance, non-aromatic alicyclic rings O (e.g., cyclohexane ring and other cycloalkane rings which may have a Substituent, cyclohexene ring and other option wherein R and R respectively represent a hydrogen 60 ally Substituted cycloalkene rings), non-aromatic bridged atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group, a (cross-linked) rings (e.g., 5-norbornene ring and other cycloalkyl group, a hydroxyl group, an alkoxy group, a optionally Substituted bridged hydrocarbon rings), benzene carboxyl group, an alkoxycarbonyl group, or an acyl ring, naphthalene ring and other optionally Substituted aro group; or R' and R may bond together to form a matic rings. The ring may practically comprise an aromatic double bond, or an aromatic or non-aromatic ring, X 65 ring. represents an oxygen atom or a hydroxyl group; and in A preferred imide compound includes compounds shown denotes an integer of 1 to 3. The Oxidation-catalyst may by the following formula, 6,037,477 4 group, there may be mentioned the Similar acyl groups to (1a) those mentioned above, in particular acyl groups each hav ing about 1 to 6 carbon atoms. Examples of the halogen atom include fluorine, chlorine and bromine atoms. The Substitu R C ents R, R", Rand R may practically be hydrogen atoms, \,-- lower alkyl groups each having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, -x carboxyl groups, nitro groups or halogen atoms, respec R2 C tively. O The Symbol X in the formula (1) denotes an oxygen atom (1b) 1O or a hydroxyl group, and n usually denotes about 1 to 3, O preferably 1 or 2. The imide compound shown by the R l formula (1) can be used singly or in combination in the \--- oxidation reaction. -x AS examples of the acid anhydride corresponding to the R2 C 15 imide compound of the formula (1), there may be mentioned Succinic anhydride, maleic anhydride, or other Saturated or O unsaturated aliphatic dicarboxylic acid anhydrides, tetrahy (1c) drophthalic anhydride, hexahydrophthalic anhydride (1,2- R3 cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid anhydride), 1,2,3,4- R cyclohexanetetracarboxylic acid 1,2-anhydride, and other C Saturated or unsaturated nonaromatic cyclic polycarboxylic \,-- acid anhydrides (alicyclic polycarboxylic acid anhydrides), -x hetic anhydride, himic anhydride, and other bridged cyclic R5 polycarboxylic acid anhydrides (alicyclic polycarboxylic R6 O 25 acid anhydrides), phthalic anhydride, tetrabromophthalic (1d) anhydride, tetrachlorophthalic anhydride, nitrophthalic anhydride, trimelitic anhydride, methylcyclohexenetricar R3 O boxylic anhydride, pyromellitic anhydride, mellitic R4 anhydride, 1,8,4,5-naphthalene tetracarboxylic acid \,-- dianhydride, and other aromatic polycarboxylic acid anhy -x drides. R5 C Examples of a preferred imide compound include | N-hydroxy Succinimide, N-hydroxy male imide, R6 O N-hydroxy hexahydrophthal imide, N,N'- (1e) 35 dihydroxycyclohexanetetracarboximide, N-hydroxy R3 phthalimide, N-hydroxytetrabrom ophthalimide, R N-hydroxytetrachlorophthalimide, N-hydroxyhetimide, C N-hydroxyhimimide, N-hydroxytrimellitimide, N,N'- \,-- dihydroxypyromellitimide, N,N'-dihydroxynaphthalene -x 40 tetracarboximide and So forth.