Tetrahedron Letters

Variation in the regioselectivity of levulinic acid bromination in ionic liquids

AG Zavozin, NE Kravchenko, NV Ignat'ev, SG Zlotin

Index: Zavozin, Alexander G.; Kravchenko, Natalya E.; Ignat'ev, Nikolay V.; Zlotin, Sergei G. Tetrahedron Letters, 2010 , vol. 51, # 3 p. 545 - 547

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Citation Number: 12

Abstract

The reaction of levulinic acid and its esters with bromine in ionic liquids results in the formation of 3-bromo derivatives as the major products and not the 5-bromo substituted isomers, which are typically formed in organic solvents. The bromination of levulinic acid in ionic liquids in the presence of urea leads to the formation of 5-bromolevulinic acid.