New ‘multi-site’ phase transfer catalyst for the addition of dichlorocarbene to styrene

Abstract

The kinetics of dichlorocarbene addition to styrene has been studied under phase transfer catalytic conditions using aqueous sodium hydroxide as the base and 2-benzylidine-N,N,N,N′,N′,N′-hexaethylpropane-1,3-diammonium dichloride as a new ‘multi-site’ phase transfer catalyst. The reaction was carried out at 40 °C under pseudo-first order conditions by keeping aqueous sodium hydroxide and chloroform in excess and was monitored by GC. The effect of various experimental parameters on the rate of the reaction has been studied and based on the results obtained, a suitable mechanism is proposed.