Dehydration of 2-(d-arabino-tetrahydroxybutyl)furans : Part II. The steric course and mechanism of the reaction

Acid-catalyzed dehydration of methyl and ethyl 2-methyl-5-(d-arabino-tetrahydroxybutyl)-3-furoate (4a, b) takes place preferentially with inversion of configuration at C-1′, yielding the corresponding 5-(1,4-anhydro-d-ribo-tetrahydroxybutyl)-2-methyl-3-furoate (6a, b), and, to a much smaller extent, with retention of configuration giving the isomeric d-arabino anhydro-derivative (5a, b). The reaction is reversible, the equilibrium being set up when there is a high concentration of the thermodynamically more-stable d-ribo anhydro-derivative in the presence of the d-arabino isomer, the starting (d-arabino-tetrahydroxybutyl)furan (4a, db), and a compound thought to be methyl (or ethyl) 2-methyl-5-(d-ribo-tetrahydroxybutyl)-3-furoate (13). A mechanism is proposed for this reaction which involves the C-1′ carbonium ion 15 as the key intermediate. The anhydro derivatives of the d-ribo and d-arabino configurations can be distinguished by their optical rotations, the chemical shifts of H-1′, and the J_1′,2′ coupling constants.