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Tip of the Month
Hydroxide: Base or Nucleophile

When hydroxide has a choice of acting as a base or acting as a nucleophile, under PTC conditions, hydroxide acts predominantly as a base. This is why benzyl chloride can be used as an excellent alkylating agent in high yield under strong base PTC-NaOH conditions, without significant "hydrolysis" to benzyl alcohol. However, when hydroxide has no choice, it will act as a nucleophile. For example, one can obtain quantitative yield of dibenzyl ether by reacting benzyl chloride with NaOH and a phase-transfer catalyst, in the absence of other reactants. Surprise: Can you react an acid chloride with an amine (=> amide) in the presence of NaOH in high yield? See the PTC Reaction of the Month below!


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PTC 2-Day Course Registration Deadline April 1 - LAST CHANCE

Last chance to register for the 2-day course "Practical Phase-Transfer Catalysis" to be held in New Jersey on May 6-7, 2003. Since 1996, 480 process development chemists, synthesis chemists and process engineers from 87 companies have greatly benefited from 28 public and private in-house PTC courses in the US and Europe. This is the only public PTC course in the US in 2003 (Japan planned for October 2003). Click here for the agenda. Alternatively, train your whole department on-site, in a private in-house course. A veteran pharmaceutical process chemist wrote (Apr 2002 course): "Best training in my 18 years in industry." He also reported scaling up a new PTC process within 6 months.  Registration Deadline: April 1, 2003.

PTC Reaction of the Month

How is this for competition? Look what happens when an acid chloride (with all kinds of halides hanging of the molecule) was added to a mixture of isobutylamine and NaOH in the presence of methylene chloride and a phase-transfer catalyst. Would you have expected hydrolysis of the acid chloride to occur first? This PTC N-alkylation cyclization reaction is useful for cephalosporin intermediates. Abrecht, S., (Hoffmann-La Roche) EP 0 864 564 16-Sep-1998.



PTC Breakthrough Process Screening

PTC Organics now offers PTC Breakthrough Process Screening for rapid and highly effective evaluation of breakthrough phase-transfer catalysis processes. As the world leader in industrial phase-transfer catalysis, PTC Organics develops breakthrough high-performance low-cost PTC processes. Contact Marc Halpern at PTC Organics by E-mail, website, telephone (+1 856-222-1146) or fax (+1 856-222-1124). Not sure if PTC can help improve performance? Just call and let's talk about PTC. Click here for 41 high-performance PTC reaction categories and benefits
(allow 60 sec for downloading pdf file).

PTC CD-ROM - "The Best of Industrial Phase-Transfer Catalysis"  

For those of you who ordered the CD-ROM "The Best of Industrial Phase-Transfer Catalysis," they will be sent this month (March). If you are interested in obtaining this valuable CD, contact Marc Halpern at tel (+1) 856-222-1146 or by
E-mail. "The Best of Industrial Phase-Transfer Catalysis" contains 300 pages of valuable PTC information including the PTC Technology & Information Center, 12 articles from the journal "Industrial Phase-Transfer Catalysis," 5 PTC Tips of the Month, the PTC Supplier Directory, 17 "clickable" PTC reactions and more. The CD also includes proposals for improving your performance in R&D and production using PTC breakthrough process services from PTC Organics (PTC contract research, PTC training and licensing of PTC technology).

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PTC Tip of the Month #6
Copyright 2003 PTC Communications, Inc.