Dehydration of phenol

Another method for the preparation of aromatic ethers which has received relatively little attention because of experimental difficulties and because it is not a general synthesis, was pioneered by Sabatier (68,69, 70, 71). This involved the vapor phase dehydration of phenols over alumina or preferably thoria at temperatures in the neighborhood of 400° C. 

Golden (28) unsuccessfully attempted to prepare polymers by elimination of acetyl chloride and acetic anhydride from p-acetoxy-chlorobenzene and diacetoxybenzene, respectively. He was also unable to dehydrate hydroquinone. In the course of his study on the dehydration of phenols to aromatic ethers over thoria, Briner (8) also attempted, unsuccessfully, to dehydrate the polyphenols pyrocatechol, resorcinol and hydroquinone. 

Methylphenol. This phenol, commonly known as o-cresol, is produced synthetically by the gas phase alkylation of phenol with methanol using modified alumina catalysis or it may be recovered from naturally occurring petroleum streams and coal tars. Most is produced synthetically. Reaction of phenol with methanol using modified zeoHte catalysts is a concerted dehydration of the methanol and alkylation of the aromatic ring. 2-Methylphenol [95-48-7] is available in 55-gal dmms (208-L) and in bulk quantities in tank wagons and railcars. 

The largest use of NMP is in extraction of aromatics from lube oils. In this appHcation, it has been replacing phenol and, to some extent, furfural. Other petrochemical uses involve separation and recovery of aromatics from mixed feedstocks recovery and purification of acetylenes, olefins, and diolefins removal of sulfur compounds from natural and refinery gases and dehydration of natural gas. 

Phthaleins. Dyes of this class are usually considered to be triaryhnethane derivatives. Phenolphthalein [77-09-8] (23, R = CO) and phenol red [143-74-8] (23, R = SO2) are used extensively as indicators in colorimetric and titrimetric determinations (see Hydrogen-ION activity). These compounds are prepared by the condensation of phenol with phthaUc anhydride or i9-sulfoben2oic anhydride, respectively, in the presence of a dehydrating agent. 

Inter and Intramolecular nucleophiKc displacement o< alcohols wHh inversion by means of cHethyi azo cartMxylate (DEAD)-triphenylphosphine and a nucleophile. Also dehydration, esterification of alcohols or alkylallon of phenols,... 

Phenolic resins were the first totally synthetic plastics invented. They were commercialized by 1910 [I]. Their history begins before the development of the structural theory of chemistry and even before Kekule had his famous dreams of snakes biting their tails. It commences with Gerhardt s 1853 observations of insoluble resin formation while dehydrating sodium salicylate [2]. These were followed by similar reports on the behavior of salicylic acid derivatives under a variety of reaction conditions by Schroder et al. (1869), Baeyer (1872), Velden (1877), Doebner (1896 and 1898), Speyer (1897) and Baekeland (1909-1912) [3-17]. Many of these early reports appear to involve the formation of phenolic polyesters rather than the phenol-aldehyde resins that we think of today. For... 

Owing to its excellent thermal and mechanical stability and its rich chemistry, alumina is the most widely used support in catalysis. Although aluminium oxide exists in various structures, only three phases are of interest, namely the nonporous, crys-tallographically ordered a-Al203, and the porous amorphous t]- and y-Al203. The latter is also used as a catalyst by itself, for example in the production of elemental sulfur from H2S (the Claus process), the alkylation of phenol or the dehydration of formic acid. 

A recent patent describes the synthesis and catalytic use of Al-containing TUD-1 materials. Some of the reactions demonstrated inclnde hydrogenation of mesitylene (Pt as active metal) and dehydration of 1-phenyl-ethanol to styrene. Several other conceptnal reactions were also described, amongst others the Diels-Alder reaction of crotonaldehyde and dicyclopentadiene and the amination of phenol with ammonia. 

Heterogeneous catalysts, particularly zeolites, have been found suitable for performing transformations of biomass carbohydrates for the production of fine and specialty chemicals.123 From these catalytic routes, the hydrolysis of abundant biomass saccharides, such as cellulose or sucrose, is of particular interest. The latter disaccharide constitutes one of the main renewable raw materials employed for the production of biobased products, notably food additives and pharmaceuticals.124 Hydrolysis of sucrose leads to a 1 1 mixture of glucose and fructose, termed invert sugar and, depending on the reaction conditions, the subsequent formation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) as a by-product resulting from dehydration of fructose. HMF is a versatile intermediate used in industry, and can be derivatized to yield a number of polymerizable furanoid monomers. In particular, HMF has been used in the manufacture of special phenolic resins.125... 

Cation-exchange resins are used as catalysts in the produdion of MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether, 2-methoxy-2-methylpropane) and various other oxygenates and, lately, also in the dimerization of isobutene [30]. Other commercial applications of the cation-exchange resins indude dehydration of alcohols, alkylation of phenols, condensation readions, alkene hydration, purification of phenol, ester hydrolysis and other reactions [31]. The major producers of ion-exchange resins are Sybron Chemicals Incorporated [32] (Lewatit resins), Dow Chemical Company [33] (DOWEX resins), Purolite [28] (Purolite resins), and Rohm and Haas Company [27] (Amberlyst resins). 

Table 12.3 summarizes the uses of formaldehyde. Two important thermosetting plastics, urea- and phenol-copolymers, take nearly one half the formaldehyde manufactured. Urea-formaldehyde resins are used in particleboard, phenol-formaldehyde resins in plywood. 1,4-Butanediol is made for some polyesters and is an example of acetylene chemistry that has not yet been replaced. Tetrahydrofiiran (THF) is a common solvent that is made by dehydration of 1,4-butanediol. 

Reactions of anthocyanins and flavanols take place much faster in the presence of acetaldehyde that is present in wine as a result of yeast metabolism and can also be produced through ethanol oxidation, especially in the presence of phenolic compounds, or introduced by addition of spirit in Port wine technology. The third mechanism proposed involves nucleophilic addition of the flavanol onto protonated acetaldehyde, followed by protonation and dehydration of the resulting adduct and nucleophilic addition of a second flavonoid onto the carbocation thus formed. The resulting products are anthocyanin flavanol adducts in which the flavonoid units are linked in C6 or C8 position through a methyl-methine bond, often incorrectly called ethyl-link in the literature. 

The p-acetoxystyrene monomer, precursor of polymer III, is prepared from p-hydroxyacetophenone using the procedure of Corson et al. (14) which involves acetylation of the phenolic group followed by catalytic hydrogenation of the ketone and dehydration of the resulting benzylic alcohol as shown in Scheme 3. 

Reaction between alkoxides or arox-ides and alkyl halides (Williamson) 0-14 Reaction between alkoxides or arox-ides and inorganic esters 0-15 Alkylation of alcohols or phenols with diazo compounds 0-16 Dehydration of alcohols 0-17 Transetherification 0-19 Alkylation of alcohols with onium salts... 

Finally, condensation of phenols with various aliphatic compounds in the presence of a catalyst or a dehydrating compound, such as KHS04, H3P04, PPA, leads to 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran derivatives. It has been the subject of many investigations303-309 in the field of chemical technology. 

Aryl-3-carbomethoxybenzofurans have been obtained.408,409 The acid-catalyzed ring-closing dehydration of a-aryldeoxybenzoins gives 2,3-diarylbenzofurans 410 this is the best method for the synthesis of those compounds (162). a-Aryldeoxybenzoins are readily prepared by heating a benzoin with a phenol in dioxan with concentrated HC1.410... 

AHC(18)337>. The 3-alkylbenzo[6 ]furans result from cyclodehydration of aryloxyacetones the most common dehydrating agents are sulfuric acid, phosphorus oxychloride and poly-phosphoric acid. The allyl ethers of phenols can be converted to 2-alkyl-2,3-dihydro-benzo[6]furan by heating with polyphosphoric acid, pyridine hydrochloride or magnesium chloride at 180 °C the intermediate o-allylphenol is not isolated. 

Dehydration of o-hydroxycinnamyl alcohols (94) may be achieved by pyrolysis or under acid catalysis. In the latter, formation of an allyl carbocation (95) is considered to precede nucleophilic attack by the phenolic oxygen atom, though this is once again the involvement of a quinoneallide in another guise (72CB863). 

Few solid-phase syntheses of oxazoles have been reported (Table 15.17). The most general strategy is the dehydration of a-(acylamino) ketones (Entry 2, Table 15.17) or 2-(acylamino)phenols (Entry 1, Table 15.17). Oxazolidin-2-ones have been prepared by intramolecular nucleophilic cleavage of carbamates from insoluble supports (Entries 5 and 6, Table 15.17). Resin-bound 2-aminoethanols, which are accessible by nucleophilic ring-opening of oxiranes with amines, undergo cyclocondensation with aldehydes to yield oxazolidines [220,221]. These compounds are unstable towards acids, and can be released from the support only under neutral or basic reaction conditions. 

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