Prins reaction

The Prins reaction is an organic reaction consisting of an electrophilic addition of an aldehyde or ketone to an alkene or alkyne followed by capture of a nucleophile. The outcome of the reaction depends on reaction conditions (scheme 1). With water and a protic acid such as sulfuric acid as the reaction medium and formaldehyde the reaction product is a 1,3-diol. When water is absent, the cationic intermediate loses a proton to give an allylic alcohol. With an excess of formaldehyde and a low reaction temperature the reaction product is a dioxane. When water is replaced by acetic acid the corresponding esters are formed.

The original reactants employed by Dutch chemist Hendrik Jacobus Prins in his 1919 publication were styrene (scheme 2), pinene, camphene, eugenol, isosafrole and anethole.

In 1937 the reaction was investigated as part of a quest for di-olefins to be used in synthetic rubber.

The reaction mechanism for this reaction is depicted in scheme 5. The carbonyl reactant (2) is protonated by a protic acid and for the resulting oxonium ion 3 two resonance structures can be drawn. This electrophile engages in an electrophilic addition with the alkene to the carbocationic intermediate 4. Exactly how much positive charge is present on the secondary carbon atom in this intermediate should be determined for each reaction set. Evidence exists for neighbouring group participation of the hydroxyl oxygen or its neighboring carbon atom. When the overall reaction has a high degree of concertedness, the charge built-up will be modest.