Benzyl Chloride → alpha-(p-Benzyloxyphenyl)-p-cresol

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Reaction Steps

To a stirred suspension of 3.36 g of sodium hydride (in mineral oil) in 50 ml of dimethylformamide is added dropwise at room temperature a solution of 15 g bis-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-methane in 50 ml dimethylformamide. The resulting solution is stirred at room temperature for one hour. Ten grams of benzyl chloride is added dropwise and the stirring is continued at room temperature overnight. After evaporation of the solvent under reduced pressure, the residue is treated with 100 ml of water and extracted twice with diethyl ether. The combined ether extracts are combined, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, evaporated to dryness, and the resulting oil dissolved in hot ethanol. Bis-p-(benzyloxy)phenyl-methane (m.p. 109.5°-110°C) crystallizes upon cooling and is collected by filtration. The mother liquors are evaporated to dryness and the crystalline mono-addition product is obtained by chromatography on silica gel with chloroform. After separation, the mono-benzyl ether is recrystallized from isopropyl ether, m.p. 95°-96°C.

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