Catechols are very important molecules that are being studied in the fields of chemistry and biology. They are active participants in the transport of electrons. Because of this characteristic the quinone/hydroquinone capabilities of the catechol is being studied. In this research various catechol analogs are being synthetized in order to study their electrochemical behavior. The method to synthesize each catechol analog will vary. Several of the analogs are being synthetized with the same base molecule 1,4-dimethoxybenzene. The difference of each analog will be the carbon chain added to 1,4-dimethoxybenzene. Each chain is added using 1,n-dibromalkyl (n= 3, 5, 9, 11). After the chain is added the next step is demethylation followed by hydrolization in order to form the hydroquinone. Bromine in the carbon chain will then be exchanged to a thiol group. The effect of the different carbon chains will also be studied. Another route was used for the synthesis of Bis (3,4-dimethoxyphenyl) methanone using as starting materials 3,4 dimethoxybenzoic acid and 1,2 dimethoxybenzene. The compound was reduced to obtain Bis (3,4-dimethoxyphenyl) methane. This compound will be submitted to demethylate to generate another catechol analog called 4,4 methanediylbenzene 1,2 diol. All compounds have been purified by using silica gel column and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance. When the catechols are obtained their electrochemical behavior will be studied.

Synthesis of catechol analogs

251st National Meeting (2016)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.