Homologation reaction

A homologation reaction, also known as homologization, is any chemical reaction that effects an overall increase of the carbon skeleton of a saturated reactant molecule.^[1] The reactants undergo a homologation converting them into the next member of the homologous series. For example the reaction of aldehydes and ketones with diazomethane or methoxymethylenetriphenylphosphine effectively inserts a methylene (-CH₂-) unit in the hydrocarbon chain and the reaction product is the next homologue.

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Examples of homologation reactions include:

• Seyferth-Gilbert homologation
• Displacement of a halide by a cyanide group, which can be reduced to an amine, see: Kolbe nitrile synthesis
• Kiliani-Fischer synthesis, where an aldose molecule is elongated through a three-step process consisting of:
  1. Nucleophillic addition of cyanide to the carbonyl to form a cyanohydrin
  2. Hydrolysis to form a lactone
  3. Reduction to form the homologous aldose
• Wittig reaction of an aldehyde with methoxymethylenetriphenylphosphine, which produces a homologous aldehyde.
• Arndt-Eistert synthesis is a series of chemical reactions designed to convert a carboxylic acid to a higher carboxylic acid homologue (ie. contains one additional carbon atom)
• Kowalski ester homologation, an alternative to the Arndt-Eistert synthesis. Has been used to convert β-amino esters from α-amino esters through an ynolate intermediate.^[2]

Some reactions increase the chain length by more than one unit. For example, the following are considered two-carbon homologation reactions:

• Nucleophilic addition to ethylene oxide, resulting in a ring-opening and producing a primary alcohol with two extra carbons.
• Malonic ester synthesis, which produces a carboxylic acid with two extra carbons.

See also

• Homologous series

References