Friedel-Crafts reaction of benzene and ethylene

Friedel—Crafts Reaction of Benzene and Ethylene Oxide. In the presence of molar quantities of aluminum chloride, ethylene oxide reacts with benzene to give an addition product, which is hydrolyzed to phenethyl alcohol ... 

This process was superceded by the Friedel-Crafts reaction of benzene and ethylene oxide which is now the most important commercial process (11). Cheap ethylene oxide brought about this shift. For a short time, commercial quantities of phenylethyl alcohol were made by the Grignard reaction of phenyl magnesium chloride on ethylene oxide but this process could not compete with the Friedel-Crafts process. 

Similarly, synthetic rubber was vital to the ground-war effort in World War II, after the Japanese cut off the Allies from sources of natural rubber in Southeast Asia (see Historical Highlight in Chapter 11). A synthetic rubber was developed in an amazingly short time in a remarkable display of cooperation between government officials and industrial and academic scientists. This rubber was a copolymer (Sec. 22.1) that contained styrene as a key component. Styrene is made from ethylbenzene, which is prepared industrially by the Friedel-Crafts reaction of benzene and ethylene, as shown below. 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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