Furan

Furan
IUPAC name Furan
Other names Oxole, furfuran, furane (misspelling) [1], divinylene oxide, 1,4-epoxy​-1,3-buta​diene
Identifiers
CAS number	110-00-9 Y
PubChem	8029
ChemSpider	7738
SMILES C1=CC=CO1
Properties
Molecular formula	C4H4O
Molar mass	68.07 g/mol
Appearance	colorless, volatile liquid
Density	0.936 g/mL
Melting point	-85.6 °C
Boiling point	31.4 °C
Hazards
Flash point	-35 °C
Related compounds
Related heterocycles	Pyrrole Thiophene
Related compounds	Tetrahydrofuran (THF) 2,5-Dimethylfuran Benzofuran Dibenzofuran
Y (what is this?)  (verify) Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox references

Furan is a heterocyclic organic compound, consisting of a five-membered aromatic ring with four carbon atoms and one oxygen. The class of compounds containing such rings are also referred to as furans. The parent compound is typically derived by the thermal decomposition of pentose-containing materials, cellulosic solids especially pine-wood. Furan is a colorless, flammable, highly volatile liquid with a boiling point close to room temperature. It is toxic and may be carcinogenic. Catalytic hydrogenation (see redox) of furan with a palladium catalyst gives tetrahydrofuran.

History

The name furan comes from the Latin furfur, which means bran.^[2] The first furan derivative to be described was 2-furoic acid, by Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1780. Another important derivative, furfural, was reported by Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner in 1831 and characterised nine years later by John Stenhouse. Furan itself was first prepared by Heinrich Limpricht in 1870, although he called it tetraphenol.^[3][4] .

Synthesis and isolation

• Furan can be obtained from furfural by oxidation and decarboxylation of the resulting furan-2-carboxylic acid, the furfural being derived by destructive distillation of corn cobs in the presence of sulfuric acid.^[5]
• A classic furan organic synthesis is the Feist-Benary synthesis.
• One of the most simple synthesis methods for furans is the reaction of 1,4-diketones with phosphorus pentoxide (P₂O₅) in the Paal-Knorr Synthesis. It is interesting that the thiophene formation reaction of 1,4-diketones with Lawesson's reagent also forms furans as side products.

Chemistry

Furan is aromatic because one of the lone pairs of electrons on the oxygen atom is delocalized into the ring, creating a 4n+2 aromatic system (see Hückel's rule) similar to benzene. Because of the aromaticity, the molecule is flat and lacks discrete double bonds. The other lone pair of electrons of the oxygen atom extends in the plane of the flat ring system. The sp² hybridization is to allow one of the lone pairs of oxygen to reside in a p orbital and thus allow it to interact within the pi-system.

Due to its aromaticity, furan's behavior is quite dissimilar to that of the more typical heterocyclic ethers such as tetrahydrofuran.

• It is considerably more reactive than benzene in electrophilic substitution reactions, due to the electron-donating effects of the oxygen heteroatom. Examination of the resonance contributors shows the increased electron density of the ring, leading to increased rates of electrophilic substitution^[6].

• Furan serves as a diene in Diels-Alder reactions with electron-deficient dienophiles such as ethyl (E)-3-nitroacrylate.^[7] The reaction product is a mixture of isomers with preference for the endo isomer:

• Hydrogenation of furans affords sequentially dihydrofurans and tetrahydrofurans.
• In the Achmatowicz reaction, furans converted to dihydropyran compounds.

See also

• Simple aromatic rings
• Furanose
• bs4994 Furan resin as thermoset FRP for chemical process plant equipments
• Furantetracarboxylic acid
• Furanoflavonoid

External links

• Recent synthetic methods

References