How do chemists make epoxides?

1 Answer
anor277
Jul 7, 2017

They use #"meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid"#

Explanation:

And thus the basic reaction is............

#"olefin "stackrel(MCPBA)rarr" epoxide....."#

And this is a powerful organic reaction, in that you can (potentially) make 2 chiral centres from an olefin, i.e. from #R_1R_2C=CR_3R_4# to give #R_1R_2(HO)C-CR_3R_4(OH)# after the epoxide ring is oxidized up. Current methods of synthesis (e.g. #"Sharpless peroxidation"#) are good enuff to accomplish this end.

Your text will have the required examples..

Related questions
See all questions in Quick Introduction of Structures
Impact of this question
2096 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License