Dioxolane

Dioxolane is a heterocyclic acetal with the chemical formula (CH₂)₂O₂CH₂. It is related to tetrahydrofuran (THF) by replacement of the methylene group (CH₂) at the 2-position with an oxygen atom. The corresponding saturated 6-membered C₄O₂ rings are called dioxanes. The isomeric 1,2-dioxolane (wherein the two oxygen centers are adjacent) is a peroxide. 1,3-dioxolane is used as a solvent and as a comonomer in polyacetals.

Dioxolanes are a group of organic compounds containing the dioxolane ring. Dioxolanes can be prepared by acetalization of aldehydes and ketalization of ketones with ethylene glycol.

(+)-cis-Dioxolane is the trivial name for L-(+)-cis-2-methyl-4-trimethylammoniummethyl-1,3-dioxolane iodide which is a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor agonist.

Organic compounds containing carbonyl groups sometimes need protection so that they do not undergo reactions during transformations of other functional groups that may be present. A variety of approaches to protection and deprotection of carbonyls including as dioxolanes are known. For example, consider the compound methyl cyclohexanone-4-carboxylate, where lithium aluminium hydride reduction will produce 4-hydroxymethylcyclohexanol. The ester functional group can be reduced without affecting the ketone by protecting the ketone as a ketal. The ketal is produced by acid catalysed reaction with ethylene glycol, the reduction reaction carried out, and the protecting group removed by hydrolysis to produce 4-hydroxymethylcyclohexanone.

NaBArF₄ can also be used for deprotection of acetal or ketal-protected carbonyl compounds. For example, deprotection of 2-phenyl-1,3-dioxolane to benzaldehyde can be achieved in water in five minutes at 30 °C.

Neosporol is a natural product that includes a 1,3-dioxolane moiety, and is an isomer of sporol which has a 1,3-dioxane ring. The total synthesis of both compounds has been reported, and each includes a step in which a dioxolane system is formed using trifluoroperacetic acid (TFPAA), prepared by the hydrogen peroxide – urea method. This method involves no water, so it gives a completely anhydrous peracid, necessary in this case as the presence of water would lead to unwanted side reactions.

In the case of neosporol, a Prilezhaev reaction with trifluoroperacetic acid is used to convert a suitable allyl alcohol precursor to an epoxide, which then undergoes a ring-expansion reaction with a proximate carbonyl functional group to form the dioxolane ring.

A similar approach is used in the total synthesis of sporol, with the dioxolane ring later expanded to a dioxane system.