Water → Potassium 2,4-di-tert-butylphenolate

Participants

Reaction Steps

4.85 grams of 46.3% aqueous potassium hydroxide was added to a solution of 8.24 grams of 2,4-di-tert.-butylphenol in 250 ml of toluene and heated at reflux over a period of about 2 hours until all the water including reaction water was removed by azeotropic distillation yielding a dispersion of the potassium 2,4-di-tert.-butylphenolate in toluene. To this dispersion at -5° was added a solution of 21.7 grams of the compound of Example 1 in 60 ml of toluene at -5° to -3° over a period of 25 minutes and then stirring continued overnight. The reaction mixture was clarified by filtration of the precipitated potassium chloride and the product isolated as a residue by distillation of the toluene at reduced pressures. The product was isolated as crystals after crystallization from a solvent mixture of acetonitrile and toluene yielding white crystals melting at 195°-197°.

Provenance & Evidence