Expeditious syntheses to pharmochemicals 1,3-dihydroxyacetone, 1,3-dichloro-, 1,3-dibromo- and 1,3-diiodoacetone from glycerol 1,3-dichlorohydrin using homogenous and heterogenous medium

New efficient and reproductive routes to production of 1,3-dihydroxyacetone (1), 1,3-dichloroacetone (6), 1,3-dibromoacetone (7) and 1,3-diiodoacetone (8) from glycerol 1,3-dichlorohydrin (3) were developed. The synthesis of 1 was processed in three steps from glycerol 2 (1,3-selective chlorination of 2 to 3, oxidation of 3 to 6 and subsequent di-hydroxylation) in 51% overall yield. On the other hand, 7 and 8 were produced from 3, via a trans-bromination and trans-iodination, respectively, followed by oxidation and hydroxylation steps, in 38-52% overall yield. It was used homogeneous media with different reagents (HCl/AcOH, pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC), PCC-HIO₄) and heterogeneous media with reagents supported on polymer resins such as Amberlyst® A26-HCrO^4- form, PV-PCC (polyvinyl-pyridinium chlorochromate) and Amberlyst® A26-OH^- form or reagents supported on alumina such as KI/Al₂O₃, KBr/Al₂O₃, in solvent free conditions. (author)