tert-Butyl hydroperoxide → Tinuvin 123

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

70% Aqueous tert-butyl hydroperoxide (140 g, 1.09 mol) is added over a 6-hour period to a mixture of 75.4 g (0.157 mol) of bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-4-yl) sebacate, 1.25 g (8.7 mmol) of molybdenum trioxide and 570 ml of n-octane, that is first heated to 115° C., under a nitrogen atmosphere. During the addition, the reaction mixture is maintained at reflux. Water is collected in a Dean-Stark trap. Upon completion of the addition, the red reaction mixture is heated at reflux (95°-97° C.) for seven hours to discharge the red color. The molybdenum trioxide is removed by filtration. The yellow filtrate is stirred at ambient temperature for 30 minutes with 15 g of activated charcoal (DARCO) to remove some of the yellow color before being concentrated under reduced pressure. The crude product is purified by flash chromatography on silica gel (100:3 heptane:ethyl acetate) to afford 92.9 g (80% yield) of the title compound as a colorless oil.

Provenance & Evidence