The Fischer oxazole synthesis is a

chemical synthesis As a topic of chemistry, chemical synthesis (or combination) is the artificial execution of chemical reactions to obtain one or several products. This occurs by physical and chemical manipulations usually involving one or more reactions. In moder ...

of an

oxazole Oxazole is the parent compound for a vast class of heterocyclic aromatic organic compounds. These are azoles with an oxygen and a nitrogen separated by one carbon. Oxazoles are aromatic compounds but less so than the thiazoles. Oxazole is a weak ...

from a

cyanohydrin In organic chemistry, a cyanohydrin or hydroxynitrile is a functional group found in organic compounds in which a cyano and a hydroxy group are attached to the same carbon atom. The general formula is , where R is H, alkyl, or aryl. Cyanohydrin ...

and an

aldehyde In organic chemistry, an aldehyde () is an organic compound containing a functional group with the structure . The functional group itself (without the "R" side chain) can be referred to as an aldehyde but can also be classified as a formyl grou ...

in the presence of

anhydrous A substance is anhydrous if it contains no water. Many processes in chemistry can be impeded by the presence of water; therefore, it is important that water-free reagents and techniques are used. In practice, however, it is very difficult to achie ...

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid Acid strength is the tendency of an acid, symbol ...

.Wiley, R. H. The Chemistry of Oxazoles. ''

Chem. Rev. ''Chemical Reviews'' is peer-reviewed scientific journal published twice per month by the American Chemical Society. It publishes review articles on all aspects of chemistry. It was established in 1924 by William Albert Noyes (University of Illinoi ...

'' 1945, ''37'', 401. () This method was discovered by

Emil Fischer Hermann Emil Louis Fischer (; 9 October 1852 – 15 July 1919) was a German chemist and 1902 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He discovered the Fischer esterification. He also developed the Fischer projection, a symbolic way of dra ...

in 1896. The cyanohydrin itself is derived from a separate aldehyde. The

reactants In chemistry, a reagent ( ) or analytical reagent is a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, or test if one occurs. The terms ''reactant'' and ''reagent'' are often used interchangeably, but reactant specifies a ...

of the oxazole synthesis itself, the cyanohydrin of an aldehyde and the other aldehyde itself, are usually present in equimolar amounts. Both reactants usually have an

aromatic In chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property of cyclic ( ring-shaped), ''typically'' planar (flat) molecular structures with pi bonds in resonance (those containing delocalized electrons) that gives increased stability compared to satur ...

group, which appear at specific positions on the resulting

heterocycle A heterocyclic compound or ring structure is a cyclic compound that has atoms of at least two different chemical element, elements as members of its ring(s). Heterocyclic chemistry is the branch of organic chemistry dealing with the synthesis ...

. A more specific example of Fischer oxazole synthesis involves reacting mandelic acid nitrile with

benzaldehyde Benzaldehyde (C6H5CHO) is an organic compound consisting of a benzene ring with a formyl substituent. It is the simplest aromatic aldehyde and one of the most industrially useful. It is a colorless liquid with a characteristic almond-like odor. ...

to give 2,5-diphenyl-oxazole.Maklad, N. ''Name Reactions in Heterocyclic Chemistry II''; Li, J.J.; Wiley & Sons; Hoboken, NJ, 2011, 225-232.

Overall Fischer Oxazole Synthesis

History

Fischer developed the Fischer oxazole synthesis during his time at Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin University. The Fischer oxazole synthesis was one of the first syntheses developed to produce 2,5-disubstituted oxazoles.

Mechanism

The Fischer oxazole synthesis is a type of

dehydration reaction In chemistry, a dehydration reaction is a chemical reaction that involves the loss of water from the reacting molecule or ion. Dehydration reactions are common processes, the reverse of a hydration reaction. Dehydration reactions in organic che ...

which can occur under mild conditions in a rearrangement of the groups that would not seem possible. The reaction occurs by dissolving the

in dry

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...

and passing through the solution dry, gaseous

hydrogen chloride The compound hydrogen chloride has the chemical formula and as such is a hydrogen halide. At room temperature, it is a colourless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric water vapor. Hydrogen chloride ga ...

. The product, which is the 2,5-disubstituted oxazole,

precipitates In an aqueous solution, precipitation is the process of transforming a dissolved substance into an insoluble solid from a super-saturated solution. The solid formed is called the precipitate. In case of an inorganic chemical reaction leading ...

as the

hydrochloride In chemistry, a hydrochloride is an acid salt resulting, or regarded as resulting, from the reaction of hydrochloric acid with an organic base (e.g. an amine). An alternative name is chlorhydrate, which comes from French. An archaic alternative na ...

and can be converted to the

free base Free base (freebase, free-base) is the conjugate base (deprotonated) form of an amine, as opposed to its conjugate acid (protonated) form. The amine is often an alkaloid, such as nicotine, cocaine, morphine, and ephedrine, or derivatives thereo ...

by the addition of water or by boiling with alcohol. The cyanohydrins and

aldehydes In organic chemistry, an aldehyde () is an organic compound containing a functional group with the structure . The functional group itself (without the "R" side chain) can be referred to as an aldehyde but can also be classified as a formyl group ...

used for the synthesis are usually

, however there have been instances where

aliphatic In organic chemistry, hydrocarbons ( compounds composed solely of carbon and hydrogen) are divided into two classes: aromatic compounds and aliphatic compounds (; G. ''aleiphar'', fat, oil). Aliphatic compounds can be saturated, like hexane, or ...

compounds have been used. The first step of the mechanism is the addition of gaseous

HCl HCL may refer to: Science and medicine * Hairy cell leukemia, an uncommon and slowly progressing B cell leukemia * Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory, from 1961 to 2002, a proton accelerator used for research and development * Hollow-cathode lamp, a spe ...

to the

1. The

abstracts the hydrogen from

while the

chloride ion The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride salts ...

attacks the carbon in the

cyano group Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a ...

. This first step results in the formation of an iminochloride intermediate 2, probably as the hydrochloride salt. This intermediate then reacts with the

; the

hydroxyl In chemistry, a hydroxy or hydroxyl group is a functional group with the chemical formula and composed of one oxygen atom covalently bonded to one hydrogen atom. In organic chemistry, alcohols and carboxylic acids contain one or more hydroxy ...

group of 2 abstracts a hydrogen from the nitrogen, while the

lone pair In chemistry, a lone pair refers to a pair of valence electrons that are not shared with another atom in a covalent bondIUPAC ''Gold Book'' definition''lone (electron) pair''/ref> and is sometimes called an unshared pair or non-bonding pair. Lone ...

of the nitrogen attacks the

electrophilic In chemistry, an electrophile is a chemical species that forms bonds with nucleophiles by accepting an electron pair. Because electrophiles accept electrons, they are Lewis acids. Most electrophiles are positively charged, have an atom that carri ...

carbonyl In organic chemistry, a carbonyl group is a functional group composed of a carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom: C=O. It is common to several classes of organic compounds, as part of many larger functional groups. A compound containing a ...

carbon on the

. The following step results in an S_N2 attack followed by the loss water to give a chloro-oxazoline intermediate 4. Next is the

tautomerization Tautomers () are structural isomers (constitutional isomers) of chemical compounds that readily interconvert. The chemical reaction interconverting the two is called tautomerization. This conversion commonly results from the relocation of a hydr ...

of the a ring

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

. The last step involves an elimination and the loss of an

molecule to form the product 6, which is the 2,5-diaryloxazole. Electron Flow Mechanism

Applications

Diarylazoles are common

structural motif In a polymer, chain-like biological molecule, such as a protein or nucleic acid, a structural motif is a common Biomolecular structure#Tertiary structure, three-dimensional structure that appears in a variety of different, evolutionarily unrel ...

s in both natural products and drug candidates, however they are difficult to synthesize. Diaryloxazoles are generally prepared through the Fischer oxazole synthesis or Robinson-Gabriel synthesis, where the oxazole ring is constructed via either synthesis. The Fischer oxazole synthesis has also been useful in the synthesis of 2-(4-Bromophenyl)5-phenyloxazole starting with benzaldehyde cyanohydrin and 4-bromobenzaldehyde. However, oxazole ring

chlorination Chlorination may refer to: * Chlorination reaction In chemistry, halogenation is a chemical reaction that entails the introduction of one or more halogens into a compound. Halide-containing compounds are pervasive, making this type of transform ...

occurs to give 2,5-bis(4-bromophenyl)-4-chlorooxazole 7 along with 2,5-bis(4-bromophenyl)-4-oxazolidinone 8. The latter compound is in general a

by-product A by-product or byproduct is a secondary product derived from a production process, manufacturing process or chemical reaction; it is not the primary product or service being produced. A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be consid ...

Another useful example is the one pot two-step synthesis of halfordinol, a parent compound for Rutaceae

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

s. The initial steps follow the Fischer oxazole synthesis, although the acid-catalyzed cyclization occurs in two steps rather than one, which ensures the formation of the di-chloro intermediate, preventing formation of the regioisomer. Halfordinol synthesis

In recent research, a reconsideration of the Fischer oxazole synthesis has led to the synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted oxazoles from aldehydes and α-hydroxy-amides. However, unlike the Fischer oxazole synthesis, the new method is not limited to diaryloxazoles.Cornforth, J.W.; Cornforth, R. H. 218. Mechanism and Extension of the Fischer Oxazole Synthesis. ''

J. Am. Chem. Soc. The ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the ''Journal of Analytic ...

'' 1949, 1028-1030. ()

References

{{reflist Nitrogen heterocycle forming reactions Oxygen heterocycle forming reactions Heterocycle forming reactions Name reactions Emil Fischer