Benzhydrol

Benzhydrol (Diphenylcarbinol), (C HJ,CH OH, from Bettzo-phenone. The Meerwem-Ponndorf-Verley Reductions. 

In the following preparation to illustrate the Meen.vein-Pormdorf-Verley reduc tion, a solution of benzophenone in isopropanol is rapidly reduced in the presence of aluminium isopropoxide to benzhydrol (CaHs)2CO (C Hj)jCH OH. It is clear that the aluminium isopropoxide must take some essential part in this reaction, for benzophenone when dissolved even in cold isopropanol with a trace of acetic acid is reduced to tetraphenylethyleneglycol (p. 150). 

Disconnect the column, and remove the flask from the oil-bath. Add 25 ml. of dilute hydrochloric acid to the flask, shake the contents vigorously, and chill in ice-water, when crystals of benzhydrol will separate. (Occasionally the hydrol will separate initially as an oil, which ciystallises on vigorous stirring.)... 

The reaction mixture should not be heated to boiling since this leads to the formation of much benzhydrol. The temperature attained by heating on a boiling water bath is 85-90°. 

Diphenylmethane Base Method. In this method, the central carbon atom is derived from formaldehyde, which condenses with two moles of an arylamine to give a substituted diphenylmethane derivative. The methane base is oxidized with lead dioxide or manganese dioxide to the benzhydrol derivative. The reactive hydrols condense fairly easily with arylamines, sulfonated arylamines, and sulfonated naphthalenes. The resulting leuco base is oxidized in the presence of acid (Fig. 4). 

The prototype of the antihistamines based on benzhydrol, diphenhydramine (3), is familiar to many today under the trade name Benadryl . Light-induced bromination of diphenylmethane affords benzhydryl bromide (2). This is then allowed to react with dimethylaminoethanol to give the desired ether. Although no mechanistic studies have been reported, it is not unlikely that I he bromine undergoes SNi solvolysis in the reaction medium the carbonitjm ion then simply picks up the alcohol. It might be noted in passing that the theophyline salt of 4 is familiar to many Iravelers as a motion sickness remedy under the trade name Oram amine . 

Several analogs bearing different substituents on the aromatic rings are accessible by essentially the same route. The. ippropriate benzhydrol (4) is first prepared by reaction of an... 

Inclusion of a second nitrogen atom in the side chain seemingly increases the spasmolytic effect of the benzhydrol derivatives. Alkylation of the benzdryl chloride (9) with the sodium... 

When the additional nitrogen atom is included in one of the aromatic rings, on the other hand, there is obtained a compound with antihistaminic properties. Reaction of the Grignard reagent from 4-chlorobromobenzene with pyridine-2-aldehyde gives the benzhydrol analog (12). The alcohol is then converted to its sodium salt by means of sodium, and this salt is alkylated with W-C2-chloroethyl)dimethylamine. Carbinoxamine (13) is thus obtained. ... 

Performance of an imaginary 1,2-shift on the benzhydrol antihistamines, that is, attachment of the side chain directly to the benzhydryl carbon while leaving the hydroxyl group intact, affords a series of molecules with markedly altered biologic activities. 

Pieces of various routes to moxalactam have been published from which the following may be assembled as one of the plausible pathways. The benzhydrol ester of 6-aminopenici 11 anic acid ( ) is -chlorinated and treated with base whereupon the intermediate sulfenyl chloride fragments to ). Next, displacement with propargyl alcohol in the presence of zinc chloride gives predominantly the stereochemistry represented by dia-stereoisomer The side chain is protected as the phenyl-... 

Successful recrystallization of an impure solid is usually a function of solvent selection. The ideal solvent, of course, dissolves a large amount of the compound at the boiling point but very little at a lower temperature. Such a solvent or solvent mixture must exist (one feels) for the compound at hand, but its identification may necessitate a laborious trial and error search. Solvent polarity and boiling point are probably the most important factors in selection. Benzhydrol, for example, is only slightly soluble in 30-60 petroleum ether at the boiling point but readily dissolves in 60-90° petroleum ether at the boiling point. 

A mixture of 26 g (0.1 mol) of 0 -(4-pyridyl)-benzhydrol, 1.5 g of platinum oxide, and 250 ml of glacial acetic acid is shaken at 50°-60°C under hydrogen at a pressure of 40-50 Ib/in. The hydrogenation is complete in 2 to 3 hours. The solution is filtered and the filtrate evap-rated under reduced pressure. The residue is dissolved in a mixture of equal parts of methanol and butanone and 0.1 mol of concentrated hydrochloric acid is added. The mixture is cooled and filtered to give about 30 g of 0 -(4-piperldyl)-benzhydrol hydrochloride, MP 283°-285°C, as a white, crystalline substance. 

If the resin was not washed exhaustively with methanol, significant amounts of benzhydrol (a-phenyl-benzenemethanol) and diphenyl methyl methyl ether were obtained in the final product. 

Diphenylmethyl vinyl ether has also been prepared from benzhydrol and acetylene (ethyne) under high-pressure conditions.3 In the described method, which is an adaptation of the procedure ofWeinstock and Boekelheide,4 improved yields of the alkene are obtained by using more convenient experimental conditions. 

Tractable polymers can be prepared when amino and anhydride functions are not located on the same aromatic ring, and different strategies were employed to obtain soluble polymer. AB benzhydrol imide was prepared by polycondensation of 4-(3-amino-l-hydroxymethylene) phtlialic acid monomethyl ester in NMP. The polymer soluble in NMP has been used as adhesive and coating.56 A second approach was based on an ether imide structure. AB aminophenylether phthalic acids (Fig. 5.34) were prepared by a multistep synthesis from bisphenols.155 The products are stable as hydrochloride, and the polycondensation takes place by activation with triphenylphosphite. The polymers are soluble in an aprotic polar... 

Nach der zweiten Arbeitsweise erhalt man aus Benzhydrol 93°/o d.Th. Diphenyl-me-than1. 

In verdiinnter Natronlauge wird Benzophenon praktisch. quantitativ zu Benzhydrol re-duziert (vgl. S. 654, 608) . 

Category 5. Hydrogen Atom Abstraction. When benzophenone is irradiated in isopropyl alcohol, the initially formed Si state crosses to the Ti state, which abstracts hydrogen from the solvent to give the radical 7. Radical 7 then abstracts another hydrogen to give benzhydrol (8) or dimerizes to benzpinacol (9) ... 

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