One‐Pot Preparation of Dimethyl Isosorbide from d ‐Sorbitol via Dimethyl Carbonate Chemistry

Direct synthesis of dimethyl isosorbide (DMI) from d ‐sorbitol via dimethyl carbonate (DMC) chemistry is herein first reported. High yield of DMI was achieved using the nitrogen superbase 1,5,7‐triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec‐5‐ene (TBD) as catalyst and performing the reaction in a stainless steel autoclave by increasing the temperature from 90 to 200 °C. In this procedure, DMC features its full capacity acting in the different steps of the process as carboxymethylating, leaving‐group (cyclization), and methylating agent; DMC is also employed as the reaction media.