Alcohol dehydrations carried carried out with POCl3 in pyridine take place by the E2 mechanism shown in Figure 17.6. Because hydroxide ion is a poor leaving group (Section 11.5), direce E2 elimination of water from an alcohol does not occur. On reaction with POCl3, however, the -OH group is converted into a dichlorophosphate (OPOCl2), which is an excellent leaving group and is readily eliminated to yield an alkene. pridine serves both as reaction solvent and as base to remove a neighboring proton in the E2 elimination step.
Mechanism of the dehydration of secondary and tertiary alcohols by reaction with POCl3 in pyridine. The reaction is an E2 process.
The alcohol hydroxyl group reacts with POCl3 to form a dichlorophosphate intermediate.
E2 elimination then occurs by the usual one-step mechanism as the amine base pyridine abstracts a procon from the neighboring carbon at the same time that the dichlorophosphate group is leaving.
Problem 17.12 What product(s) would you expect from dehydration of the following alcohols with POCl3 in pyridine? Indicate the major product in each case.