Propylbenzene alkylation

Cumene conversion under excess of benzene was studied over H-ZSM-11 in the adsorbed phase at 473 K by in situ C MASNMR. To follow the fate of different carbon atoms during the reaction, cumenes labelled with C-isotopes either on a-or on p-positions of the alkyl chain or in the aromatic ring have been synthesized. The primary product of cumene conversion over H-ZSM-11 was found to be n-propylbenzene. It is formed via intermolecular reaction of cumene and benzene. At long reaction times, the formation of n-propylbenzene is accompanied by complete scrambling of both cumene and n-propylbenzene alkyl chain carbon atoms and formation of toluene, ethylbenzene and butylbenzene. The rate of isomerization is higher than the rate of scrambling and fragmentation. 

In an attempt to prepare propylbenzene a chemist alkylated benzene with 1 chloropropane and aluminum chloride However two isomeric hydrocarbons were obtained m a ratio of 2 1 the desired propylbenzene being the minor component What do you think was the major product How did it anse ... 

In the presence of alkah metals such as potassium and sodium, toluene is alkylated with ethylene on the methyl group to yield, successively, normal propylbenzene, 3-phenylpentane, and S-ethji-S-phenylpentane (21). 

The ratio of ortho- to the meta- and /faru-products of monoalkylbenzenes with 1 decreased as the size of the substituents on benzene ring increased. No ortho-alkylation product was found in the case of i-propylbenzene due to the sterie interaction between /-propyl and the incoming allyl groups. Sterie hindrance arising from the size of the alkyl groups at ortho positions of the substituted benzenes appeared to be the principal cause of the differences in isomer product ratio." " ... 

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. 

Ethylation, which involves an unstable ethylcarbenium ion as intermediate, is much slower (1500 times over AICI3) than isopropylation. It is also the case in benzene alkylation with propene for the undesired formation of n-propylbenzene, which involves a primary n-propyl carbocation. Furthermore, as alkyl substituents activate the aromatic ring, consecutive alkylation of the primary product occurs with a greater rate than the first alkylation step ( 2 > i)-... 

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. 

Of the olefins, ethylene has been most extensively studied (19, 21, 23-26, 36) it reacts most readily in base-catalyzed alkylations. In general temperatures of 150-200 are used with relatively low ethylene pressures (0-70 atm.). Benzylic hydrogens are replaced by ethyl groups i.e., toluene yields n-propylbenzene. Additional substitution on the a-carbon may yield 3-phenylpentane and 3-ethyl-3-phenylpentane [Reaction (3)]. 

Ipatieff and coworkers observed first that A1C13 catalyzes the destructive alkylation of aromatics with branched alkanes.179 For example, rm-butylbenzene (35%), p-di-rm-butylbenzene (25%), and considerable isobutane are the main products when benzene is reacted at 20-50°C with 2,2,4-trimethylpentane. Toluene and biphenyl are alkylated at 100°C in a similar way.180 Straight-chain alkanes required more severe reaction conditions. n-Pentane reacted at 175°C to yield 8% propylbenzene, 25% ethylbenzene, and 20% toluene.181 Phosphoric acid afforded similar products at higher temperature (450°C).182 Pentasil zeolites and dealumi-nated pentasils have been found to promote alkylation of benzene with C2—C4 alkanes to form toluene and xylenes.183,184... 

A second limitation is the penchant for the alkylating reagent to give rearrangement products. As an example, the alkylation of benzene with 1-chloropropane leads to a mixture of propylbenzene and isopropylbenzene. We may write the reaction as first involving formation of a propyl cation, which is a primary carbocation ... 

This ion either can alkylate benzene to give propylbenzene,... 

Unlike alkylation, acylation is controlled easily to give monosubstitution, because once an acyl group is attached to a benzene ring, it is not possible to introduce a second acyl group into the same ring. Because of this, a convenient synthesis of alkylbenzenes starts with acylation, followed by reduction of the carbonyl group with zinc and hydrochloric acid (Section 16-6). For example, propylbenzene is prepared best by this two-step route because, as we have noted, the direct alkylation of benzene with propyl chloride produces considerable amounts of isopropylbenzene and polysubstitution products ... 

Reaction of alcohols with benzene overNafion-H catalysts gave the corresponding alkylbenzenes (Table 5.11). When n-propyl alcohol was the alkylating agent, no n-propylbenzene was detected, and the only product obtained was cumene.112,187 This indicates the intermediacy of the isopropyl cation in the alkylation process. 

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