Hydrogen Peroxide → Naphthalene

Participants

Reaction Steps

When carrying out the hydroxylation of naphthalene with a molar excess of H2O2 (90%) in a conventional acid system, such as anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, at temperatures ranging from -10° to 0° C. and at atmospheric or slightly superatmospheric pressure, 42.3% α-naphthol and only 0.7% β-naphthol were obtained, with about 9% of polymeric higher molecular weight product and 48% of naphthalene can be recovered unchanged. The yield of α-naphthol is 81% with an isomeric purity of 98.4%.

Provenance & Evidence