M-Xylene → 2-Nitro-2',4'dimethyl benzophenone

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

2-Nitrobenzoic acid (16.7 g, 0.1 mol) and m-xylene (11.7 g, 0.11 mol) were charged in a 300 cc Hastelloy-C autoclave. The reaction mixture was heated to 50° C. and stirred for 3 hours. Most of the HF was vented through a KOH scrubber and the product was transferred to a flask containing ice (100 g). The contents of the flask were neutralized to a pH=7. A brown solid (11.5 g) precipitated which was removed via filtration and discarded. The filtrate was extracted with ethyl acetate (2×100 mL). The ethyl acetate layer was dried and concentrated to afford the product (94% pure) (9.7 g, 35% yield) of 2-nitro-2',4'dimethyl benzophenone. A small portion (5.0 g) of the product was purified via Kugelrohr distillation to afford a yellow solid (4.2 g); m.p. 78°-80° C.

Provenance & Evidence