Esters of Pyromellitic Acid. Part I. Esters of Achiral Alcohols: Regioselective Synthesis of Partial and Mixed Pyromellitate Esters, Mechanism of Transesterification in the Quantitative Esterification of the Pyromellitate System Using Orthoformate Esters, and a Facile Synthesis of the Ortho Pyromellitate Diester Substitution Pattern

Mild conditions and reversible anhydride formation allow a relative differentiation to be made of the four equivalent carbonyl groups of pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA, benzene-1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylic dianhydride) in esterification, leading to regioselective methods to generate a wide range of partially or totally esterified products or products bearing differing esterifying groups at the different positions. Pyromellitate monoester anhydrides form efficiently in dichloromethane/triethylamine from 1 equiv of the alcohol. Under the same conditions, two different alcohols can be made to react sequentially. With 2 equiv of an alcohol, the usual mixture of meta and para diesters is obtained, separated by crystallization from HOAc. Meta and para dibenzyl pyromellitates served as regiospecific sources of other diesters, by further esterification followed by hydrogenolysis. Refluxing orthoformate triesters were found to effect quantitative esterification of the pyromellitate system under autocatalytic conditions; minor ester exchange with pre-existing esters (0−5% of total product) was ascribed to reversible anhydride formation. For general esterification with alcohols, partial ester acid chlorides were obtained using oxalyl chloride. Pyromellitate triesters afforded the ortho diester anhydrides upon distillation, thereby providing facile entry into the mostly novel ortho substitution pattern in this system. The requisite triesters were prepared by selective saponification or by the prior incorporation of one benzyl ester substituent, which could be removed by catalytic hydrogenolysis. The various benzyl esters of pyromellitates hydrogenolyzed smoothly to release the carboxylic acid groups without disturbance of pyromellitate aromaticity.