BETA-BUTYROLACTONE

B-butyrolactone has been synthesized by various methods, one by ()-epoxypropane synthesis, which is a single synthetic raw material with a yield higher than 90%, and the other by p-nitrophenyl isocyanate and ()-epoxypropane synthesis, which has a low yield compared to the first one, which is about 45%.

In recent years, a study has provided a method for the catalytic preparation of B-butyrolactone over a cinchona base catalyst. First, a cinchona base and borane undergo a borohydride reaction to prepare to obtain a cinchona base-derived bifunctional catalyst; the catalyst catalyzes a [2+2] addition reaction of aldehydes and vinyl ketone compounds to obtain the target compound. The said catalyst is a novel bifunctional catalyst containing both Lewis base (N) and Lewis acid (B) active centers, and its application to catalyze the [2+2] addition reaction of aldehydes and vinyl ketones not only yields B-butyrolactone, but also a series of chiral B-butyrolactone derivatives by modulating the reactant loading groups. Compared with the previous preparation methods, the catalyst preparation process of this method is short, easy to operate and inexpensive.