Hydrochloric Acid → Phenethyl isocyanate

Participants

Reaction Steps

40 grams of phenethyl amine in 300 ml of dry toluene saturated with dry HCl gas was mixed until a heavy white precipitate formed. An additional 200 ml of dry toluene was added with 50 ml of phosgene (12.5% in benzene). The mixture was refluxed (10 min.) and then 450 ml of phosgene was slowly added over 30 minutes and the mixture refluxed for 4 hours. The reaction mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature slowly and the solvent removed in vacuo leaving a yellow oil. Vacuum distillation of the oil at 82° to 83° C./0.1 mm yielded 1.8 g of end product.

Provenance & Evidence