Hydrochloric Acid → Benzene, 4-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1,2-dimethyl-

Participants

Reaction Steps

To o-xylene (Fluka purum, 905 ml, 7.5 mole), kept under stirring, at 0°, there was added AlCl3 (6.7 g, 50 mmole), and then, dropwise, tert-butyl chloride (Fluka puriss., 551 ml, 5 mole), during 1.25 h, while keeping the temperature between 0° and 5° (the evolving HCl was trapped in NaOH 2.5 N). The temperature was allowed to increase to room temperature. After 60 h, the reaction mixture was poured on a mixture of ice and ether, the organic phase was successively washed with brine (2x), H2O, sat. NaHCO3 and brine, dried over Na2SO4 and distilled under vacuum (Vigreux column, 30 cm) to provide 4-tert-butyl-1,2-dimethylbenzene (purity >99%, yield 90%).

Provenance & Evidence