Methylhydroquinone → Durohydroquinone

Participants

Reaction Steps

Into an autoclave (inner volume: 9 ml, made of SUS 316, equipped with a manometer) were charged 0.111 g of methylhydroquinone, 3.463 g of methanol and 4.6 mg of manganese dioxide (manufactured by High Purity Chemicals Co.). The reaction was started by elevating the temperature up to 350° C. with sand bath. The pressure during the reaction was 16 MPa. After 2 hours, the autoclave was quickly cooled and the reaction solution was taken out from the autoclave when the temperature was cooled back to the room temperature. The measurement according to the process described above revealed that the conversion of methylhydroquinone was 45% by mole, the selectivity of dimethylhydroquinone was 64% by mole, the selectivity of trimethylhydroquinone was 17% by mole and no tetramethylhydroquinone was produced. As byproducts, methyl ethers of dimethylquinone and trimethylquinone, represented by the formulae shown above, were formed with a selectivity of 6% and 2%, respectively.

Provenance & Evidence