Aj. Caruso et Jl. Lee, A NEW REACTION OF BISPHENOL A AND PREPARATION OF POLYSUBSTITUTED 9,9-DIMETHYLXANTHENES, Journal of organic chemistry, 62(4), 1997, pp. 1058-1063
A new transformation of bisphenol A (1) to polymethylated 9,9-dimethyl
xanthenes 2-5 in the presence of an exogenous phenol is described. The
reaction proceeds with concurrent liberation of phenol, is catalyzed
by strong acid, and takes place at synthetically useful rates at tempe
ratures above 100 degrees C. Materials chemically related to bisphenol
A polycarbonate 10, chroman fl, and tars generated during the manufac
ture of 1, behave similarly. The product xanthenes are useful as precu
rsors to novel xanthene polyesters such as 33 having high glass transi
tion temperatures relative to analogous materials based on 12 or 13. C
atalytic oxidation of xanthenes 2-4 affords highly insoluble diacids t
hat are esterified to the esters 6-8. A mechanistic framework accounti
ng for the appearance of chroman 23 and spiroketal 24 as intermediates
is given. Overall, the reaction has the characteristics of a complex
series of equilibria in which xanthenes such as 2 are strongly favored
.