Aluminium chloride-phosgene solutions

Phosgene, dichlorine and hydrogen chloride in waste-gases from the manufacture of aluminium chloride (also see Section 9.4.3) were completely removed by treatment with aqueous acidified iron(II) chloride solution in the presence of activated carbon [1571]. 

An extensive study of solutions of aluminium(in) chloride in liquid phosgene (in which it is extremely soluble) by Germann and coworkers [735-741,743,745,746] (which is discussed in more detail in Chapter 11) came to the overall conclusion that phosgene exhibits a seif-ionization, equation (9.1), and that 2AICI3.COCIJ, say, would best be described as [CO][Al2Clg]. These conclusions, even allowing for the more reasonable self-ionization... 

Examination of the i.r. spectra of solutions of aluminium(III) chloride with competing ligands has led to the following series of ligand strengths, with phosgene notably the weakest of those studied [1050] ... 

It has been reported that passing a mixture of carbon monoxide and dichlorine through a solution of aluminium(III) chloride in trichloromethane at 30-35 C results in the catalytic formation of phosgene [1628], Experiments in our own laboratories [1589b] show that there is no observable reaction in the dark, and that, in daylight, the presence of aluminium(lll) chloride solution had no detectable effect. 

The reaction of phosgene with ethene has been investigated by several workers [1119-1121,1579,2103]. Pace [1579] claimed that, in the presence of an aluminium(III) chloride catalyst in toluene solution, an acid chloride ClCHjCHjCOCl was produced. However, this work could not be independently confirmed [1120,2103], and no conditions were found under which the acid chloride was formed. In toluene, only products derived from reactions with the solvent were isolated [1120,1121,2103]. CICH CHjCOCl, however, is... 

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