Solid-liquid reactions catalyzed by alumina and ion exchange resin: reactions of benzyl chloride/p-chlorobenzyl chloride with solid sodium sulfide

Abstract

Basic aluminum oxide and Amberlyst A27 (Cl^- form) ion exchange resin, in their original form, were used to catalyze the solid-liquid reactions of benzyl chloride/p-chlorobenzyl chloride with sodium sulfide. At a 5% loading of the catalysts, enhancement factors of 14 and 25 were obtained for the benzyl chloride reaction with alumina and Amberlyst A27, respectively. Alumina was also used as a cocatalyst with tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) as a homogeneous-phase-transfer catalyst. Enhancement factors as high as 1.9 × 10³ and 4.9 × 10² were obtained with benzyl chloride and p-chlorobenzyl chloride, respectively, as organic substrates at a 0.4% loading of TBAB and 5% loading of alumina. Ultrasound was also found to intensify the reaction.