Marcel S. F. Lie, Ken Jie, David W. Y. Leung
2007
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Journal
Lipids
Abstract
Methyl 10-undecenoate was hydrated to methyl 10-hydroxyundecanoate using mercury (II) acetate in aqueous tetrahydrofuran (THF). Chromic acid oxidation of methyl 10-hydroxyundecanoate gave methyl 10-oxoundecanoate, which was hydrolyzed to 10-oxoundecanoic acid. Reaction of n-octyl magnesium bromide complex in THF with 10-oxoundecanoic acid furnished 10-hydroxy-10-methyloctadecanoic acid after hydrolysis. The latter compound was esterified, and dehydration of methyl 10-hydroxy-10-methyloctadecanoate withp-toluenesulfonic acid in benzene gave a mixture of unsaturated branched fatty ester intermediates:viz. methyl 10-methyl-9-octadecenoate, 10-methyl-10-octadecenoate and 10-octyl-10-undecenoate. Treatment of the mixture of unsaturated branched fatty ester intermediates with mercury (II) acetate in methanol gave exclusively methyl 10-methoxy-10-methyloctadecanoate. Epoxidation of the same mixture of unsaturated fatty esters withm-chloroperbenzoic acid provided a mixture of epoxy derivatives: methyl 9,10-epoxy-10-methyloctadecanoate, 10,11-epoxy-10-methyloctadecanoate and 2-octyl-oxirane-nonanoate. Catalytic hydrogenation of the mixture of unsaturated fatty esters gave a racemic mixture of methyl 10-methyloctadecanoate, which was hydrolyzed to 10-methyloctadecanoic acid. The structures of the mixture of unsaturated branched fatty ester intermediates and their derivatives were characterized by chemical and spectroscopic analyses.