Benzophenone → diphenyl-(2-phenylphenyl)methanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

α,α-Diphenyl-2-biphenylmethanol was prepared by the following procedure (Reaction Scheme 1). To a solution of 2-bromobiphenyl (5.00 g, 21.45 mmol) in freshly distilled THF (50 mL) at −78° C. was added n-BuLi (1.37 g, 21.45 mmol, 8.6 mL of 2.5 M solution in hexanes) dropwise via syringe. Approximately 5 minutes after complete addition, benzophenone (4.10 g, 22.52 mmol) was added in a single portion, after which time the ice bath was removed and the solution allowed to warm to room temperature. After 2 h, the reaction was quenched with the addition of NH4Cl and H2O (100 mL), and extracted with Et2O (3×100 mL). The combined organic layers were washed with brine, dried over MgSO4, and concentrated to dryness. Chromatography gave the product as a white solid (6.27 g, 87% yield).

Provenance & Evidence