Tetrahydrofuran → 2,5-dihydroxy benzoquinone copper (II)

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Reaction Steps

The 2,5-dihydroxy benzoquinone copper (II) polymer, (Table I, compound 5), Cu(DHBQ) is prepared as follows: Ten g of 2,5-dihydroxy benzoquinone are dissolved in 200 ml of either dimethylformamide (DMF) or tetrahydrofurane (THF). To this is added 14 g of copper acetate (hydrate) dissolved in 250 ml of DMF (or THF). The solution is refluxed for 4 hours. The products have to be centrifuged after being allowed to settle for a few days. The DMF solution yielded a brown product, and the THF yielded a blue product. Since the compounds were insoluble in all common solvents, purification and analysis was difficult. The only purification attempted was Soxhlet extraction using acetone as suggested by Coble and Holizclaw, J. Inorg, Nucl. Chem., 36,1049 (1974). The yield was about 10 g. The chain length is difficult to estimate, but low voltage mass spectral data (20 eV, CEC 450) show masses up to at least 600, indicating the molecule to be at least a trimer. The analytical data indicate copper=31.52% (found 30.2%); carbon=35.58% (found 37.88%; hydrogen=0.99% (found 2.39%. The IR spectra shows a carbonyl shift to 1470 cm-1 (from 1640 cm-1 in the starting DHBQ) and a loss of the phenolic absorption of 3300 cm-1. The fragmentation pattern from a high voltage (70 eV) mass spectral study is shown in Table III.

Provenance & Evidence