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What Is a Furan?

By Vincent Summers
Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 10,661
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The term “furan” refers to a class of aromatic organic compounds featuring a five-member ring. A furan ring consists of four carbon atoms plus one oxygen atom. Possessing a planar structure allows the ring, with its six “pi-electrons,” to generate a circular “ring current” above and below that plane. Two pairs of double-bonded carbon atoms donate four of those electrons, while the remaining two electrons come from a lone, unshared pair located on the oxygen atom. This fulfills the requirement of Huckel’s Law that organic compounds must have 4n+2 closed-loop, conjugated pi-electrons, n being a small positive integer, in order to be aromatic.

Structurally the simplest compound to possess a furan ring is, itself, called furan — C4H4O. For purposes of identification, the ring is numbered starting with oxygen, counterclockwise. If a methyl group replaces the hydrogen atom on ring atom two, the compound is called 2-methylfuran. When the methyl group is located on ring atom three instead, the compound is called 3-methylfuran. A separate compound does not result if a methyl is placed on ring atom number four, since it would be the same thing as 2-methylfuran, as is observed by simply flipping the structure 180 degrees.

There are a few common methods used to synthesize a furan ring structure. The Paal-Knorr synthesis converts a 1,4-di-carbonyl structure such as a di-ketone into a furan ring by employing an appropriate acid reactant, such as phosphorous pentoxide. Side branches on the resultant furan ring may be introduced prior to cyclization in some instances. Another, older method called the Feist-Benary synthesis reacts an α-halocarbonyl compound with a β-dicarbonyl in the presence of a base, the most popular being pyridine. Another more modern development is the “one pot” procedure developed in Germany, which uses sodium iodide in place of stronger halo acids to produce 3-halofurans that can then be modified to produce important derivatives.

Furans are important starting materials in chemical synthesis. For example, saturating the two carbon-carbon double bonds by catalytic hydrogenation produces molecules with single bonds only. These saturated “addition products” are cyclic ethers called tetrahydrofurans. The simplest of the tetrahydrofurans is, itself, called tetrahydrofuran (THF), and is used as a solvent substituting for the once-used diethyl ether in many organometallic reactions. Other important synthetics are derived through a different mechanism called “electrophilic substitution,” in which one or more hydrogen atoms of a furan ring is or are replaced with one or more atoms or molecular fragments.

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Discussion Comments
By Izzy78 — On Oct 16, 2011

Someone mentioned benzene being an aromatic compound. How does furan compare to benzene or other aromatics in terms of reactivity?

If you were to swallow some furan, what kind of effect would it have on your body?

By TreeMan — On Oct 15, 2011

It has been a very long time since I have read anything about organic chemistry. The article mentions methyl groups joining with furan. Is it possible for other organic groups like esthers and carboxyl groups to connect? I don't remember what kind of chemical structure is required for the other functional groups.

By kentuckycat — On Oct 14, 2011

@stl156 - You're right. Aromatic in the chemistry world means something different from having a smell. An aromatic chemical is just a molecule that is in the shape of a closed ring. Furan is one obviously. Benzene is probably the most well know aromatic compound. It is extremely reactive in the human body and can be responsible for certain types of cancer and other diseases.

By vesummers — On Oct 14, 2011

A reasonable question! Aromatics are a class of compounds that possess special energy stabilization called resonance stabilization. It doesn't refer to aroma.

Furan is used in coatings, laminates and adhesives.

By stl156 — On Oct 13, 2011

What does the article mean when it says furan is aromatic? Does that really mean it has a smell like we normally think of aromatic? How would you be able to trace the smell to a certain molecule?

Is furan used in any important industrial processes?

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