Ethylbenzene, substituted

Sometimes the orientation of two substituents m an aromatic compound precludes Its straightforward synthesis m Chloroethylbenzene for example has two ortho para directing groups m a meta relationship and so can t be prepared either from chloroben zene or ethylbenzene In cases such as this we couple electrophilic aromatic substitution with functional group manipulation to produce the desired compound... 

A similar explanation lies behind the diminished strength of the sp —sp carbon-carbon bond in ethylbenzene. The general trend toward weaker C—C bonds with increased substitution that can be recognized in Table 1.3 reflects the increased stability of substituted radicals relative to primary radicals. 

The above mechanism for chloromethylation seems to be general for halo-methylation since bromomethylation gives the same ortho para ratio for toluene, ethylbenzene, and i-propylbenzene, which is entirely in accord with the halogen being substituted in a non rate-determining step of the reaction386. 

Zeoliltes seem particularly suited to take over the job and in fact are doing so already for aromatic alkylation. Thus in ethylbenzene manufacture (from benzene and ethene) modern processes apply zeolites (H-ZSM-5, H-Y) as the catalyst, substituting conventional processes based on AICI3 or BF3-on-alumina catalysis. Substantial waste reductions are achieved. 

No electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions of toluene, ethylbenzene, and cumene occur with BBrj in the dark the electrophile is too weak for these reactions. The photochemical reactions followed by hydrolysis give the p-isomers of the corresponding boronic acids as the major products (delocalization band in Scheme 9) [44]. 

Annular flow reactors, such as that illustrated in Figure 3.2, are sometimes used for reversible, adiabatic, solid-catalyzed reactions where pressure near the end of the reactor must be minimized to achieve a favorable equilibrium. Ethylbenzene dehydrogenation fits this situation. Repeat Problem 3.7 but substitute an annular reactor for the tube. The inside (inlet) radius of the annulus is 0.1m and the outside (outlet) radius is 1.1m. 

There is some increase in selectivity with functionally substituted carbenes, but it is still not high enough to prevent formation of mixtures. Phenylchlorocarbene gives a relative reactivity ratio of 2.1 1 0.09 in insertion reactions with i-propylbenzene, ethylbenzene, and toluene.212 For cycloalkanes, tertiary positions are about 15 times more reactive than secondary positions toward phenylchlorocarbene.213 Carbethoxycarbene inserts at tertiary C—H bonds about three times as fast as at primary C—H bonds in simple alkanes.214 Owing to low selectivity, intermolecular insertion reactions are seldom useful in syntheses. Intramolecular insertion reactions are of considerably more value. Intramolecular insertion reactions usually occur at the C—H bond that is closest to the carbene and good yields can frequently be achieved. Intramolecular insertion reactions can provide routes to highly strained structures that would be difficult to obtain in other ways. 

Alkyl-substituted benzenes are oxidized both on the benzene ring and on the side chain. Additionally, some dimerization occurs.36 Alkylbenzenes containing linear alkyl groups are oxidized preferentially at the side chain33 nearest the benzene ring for example, ethylbenzene oxidizes first to 1-phenyl ethanol and then to acetophenone.36... 

Reaction of rhenium atoms with alkyl-substituted arenes forms dirhenium- l-arylidene compounds (2 2) (Figure 3). The products require insertion, presumably sequential, into two carbon-hydrogen bonds of the alkyl substituent. These reactions seem highly specific and require only the presence of an alkyl-substituted benzene that possesses a CH2 or CH3 substituent. Thus, co-condensation of rhenium atoms with ethylbenzene gives two isomers (see Figure 3) in which the products arise from insertion into the carbon-hydrogen bonds of the methylene or the methyl group. The product distribution in this reaction is in accord with statistical attack at all available sp3 C-H bonds. 

Interception of the reaction sequence at the alkylcobalt carbonyl stage before carbonyl insertion, and hydrogenation of this intermediate, produces an alkane. This undesired side reaction is only minor (1-3%) in cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation of a nonfunctional olefin, but may become predominant with phenyl- or acyl-substituted olefins. Ethylbenzene has been obtained in >50% yield from styrene (37), and even more alkane was obtained from a-methylstyrene (35). 

It can be seen that primary and secondary R02 radicals disproportionate with the participation of the a-C—H bond. This explains why the substitution of D in the a-position for H retards the recombination of R02 [/tn//tD =1.9 for ethylbenzene, h/ d = 2.1 for styrene, and h/ d=1-37 for diphenylmethane [179]). Because of this, R02 radicals of unsaturated compounds with a double bond in the a-position to the peroxyl free valence disproportionate more rapidly than structurally analogous aliphatic peroxyl radicals (at 300 K, 2kt = 2x 107 and 3.8 x 106 L mol-1 s-1 for R02 radicals of cyclohexene and cyclohexane, respectively [180]). Among the products of secondary peroxyl radicals disproportionation, carbonyl compound and alcohol were found in a ratio of 1 1 at room temperature (in experiments with ethylbenzene [181], tetralin [103], and cyclohexane [182-184],... 

The reverse emulsion stabilized by sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS, R0S03 Na+) retards the autoxidation of dodecane [24] and ethylbenzene [21,26,27]. The basis for this influence lies in the catalytic decomposition of hydroperoxides via the heterolytic mechanism. The decay of hydroperoxides under the action of SDS reverse micelles produces olefins with a yield of 24% (T=413 K, 0.02mol L 1 SDS, dodecane, [ROOH]0 = 0.08 mol L 1) [27], The thermal decay gives olefins in negligible amounts. The decay of hydroperoxides apparently occurs in the ionic layer of a micelle. Probably, it proceeds via the reaction of nucleophilic substitution in the polar layer of a micelle. 

The most fundamental reaction is the alkylation of benzene with ethene.38,38a-38c Arylation of inactivated alkenes with inactivated arenes proceeds with the aid of a binuclear Ir(m) catalyst, [Ir(/x-acac-0,0,C3)(acac-0,0)(acac-C3)]2, to afford anti-Markovnikov hydroarylation products (Equation (33)). The iridium-catalyzed reaction of benzene with ethene at 180 °G for 3 h gives ethylbenzene (TN = 455, TOF = 0.0421 s 1). The reaction of benzene with propene leads to the formation of /z-propylbenzene and isopropylbenzene in 61% and 39% selectivities (TN = 13, TOF = 0.0110s-1). The catalytic reaction of the dinuclear Ir complex is shown to proceed via the formation of a mononuclear bis-acac-0,0 phenyl-Ir(m) species.388 The interesting aspect is the lack of /3-hydride elimination from the aryliridium intermediates giving the olefinic products. The reaction of substituted arenes with olefins provides a mixture of regioisomers. For example, the reaction of toluene with ethene affords m- and />-isomers in 63% and 37% selectivity, respectively. 

Poro-xylene is an industrially important petrochemical. It is the precursor chemical for polyester and polyethylene terephthalate. It usually is found in mixtures containing all three isomers of xylene (ortho-, meta-, para-) as well as ethylbenzene. The isomers are very difficult to separate from each other by conventional distillation because the boiling points are very close. Certain zeoHtes or mol sieves can be used to preferentially adsorb one isomer from a mixture. Suitable desorbents exist which have boiling points much higher or lower than the xylene and displace the adsorbed species. The boihng point difference then allows easy recovery of the xylene isomer from the desorbent by distillation. Because of the basic electronic structure of the benzene ring, adsorptive separations can be used to separate the isomers of famihes of substituted aromatics as weU as substituted naphthalenes. 

Barthomeuf, D.M. (1985) Process for separating ethylbenzene from xylenes by selective adsorption on a cesium substituted X zeolite. U.S. Patent 4,593,149. 

Ethylbenzene Isomerization Isomerization of EB requires both metal and acid function. Hydrogenation results in an intermediate naphthene. The acid function is required to isomerize the naphthene to a methyl-ethyl-substituted five-mem-bered ring species that can further convert to a dimethyl-substituted six-membered ring naphthene. This can be dehydrogenated by the metal function to a xylene isomer, OX in the example shown in Figure 14.9. 

A recent gas-phase study [18] on the hydrogenation of styrene by the Pfalz s catalyst [Ir(COD)(PHOX)] suggests an iridium(I)-iridium(III) cycle, as shown in Scheme 2.24. This cycle would imply substitution of the ethylbenzene ligand by... 

The reaction of ethylbenzene with five equivalents of Ic under the same alkylation conditions used for toluene, gives pentakis- (25%), tetrakis- (9%), tris- (4%), and bis[2-(dichloromethylsilyl)ethyl]ethylbenzene (1%) as well as a mixture of many transalkylated products (44%). It is of interest that longer alkyl-substituted benzenes exhibited different behavior in peralkylations with Ic. The transalkylation of ethylbenzene is responsible for the significantly low yield (25%) of peralkylation product in comparison with yields obtained from the alkylation of benzene " or toluene. Peralkylation of K-propylbenzene and K-butylbenzene gives similar results to those of ethylbenzene. 

Both nitric acid and nitrogen dioxide, in the liquid and vapour phase, have been used for the nitration of the alkyl side chains of various alkyl-substituted aromatics without affecting the aromatic nucleus.Thus, treatment of ethylbenzene with nitric acid of 12.5 % concentration in a sealed tube at 105-108 °C is reported to generate a 44 % yield of phenylnitroethane. The nitration of toluene with nitrogen dioxide at a temperature between 20-95 °C yields a mixture of phenylnitromethane and phenyldinitromethane with the proportion of the latter increasing with reaction temperature. ... 

Despite the use of new catalys.s for manufacturing some industrial organic chemicals, many well-known classical reactions still abound. The Friedel-Crafts alkylation is one of the first reactions studied in electrophilic aromatic substitution. It is used on a large scale for making ethylbenzene. 

Benzene under Benzene and Monosubstituted Benzene Hydrocarbons Benzene and Monosubstituted Benzene Hydrocarbons Benzene and Substituted Benzene Hydrocarbons Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene (BTEX)... 

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