Aniline is simple compound but seems way overpriced to buy (commonly see a pound of the stuff going for over $160). There's got to be an
easier/cheaper way to get this compound without being ripped off...
So aniline can be prepared from nitrobenzene via reduction or from phenol via substitution (e.g. patent US3860650A). The nitrobenzene route suffers from the obvious problem of obtaining carcinogenic benzene while the phenol route is a pain because it
requires high temperatures and pressures (over an alumina catalyst that is not very easy to prepare).
So if a guy wanted aniline via an easier route, how would he go about it? What would you do? Do you know of a simple synthesis for aniline? Better
yet, do you know of a nice "over the counter product" that contains aniline? Most products I've seen are "aniline dyes" for leather (which are more
complicated derivatives of aniline).
Edit: Minor typo fixed
[Edited on 25-1-2015 by Yugen]radiance88 - 25-1-2015 at 00:56
Is the benzene really that big of a deal (assuming that you operate in a controlled environment)? Your trying to synth aniline which is itself toxic
in it's own right, so I assume that you know what you're going to be doing it and how you intend to handle it?
Reminds me of a talk given by this british fellow discussing the general fear and paranoia people have in regards to chemicals, versus the actuality of the
dangers of them. He seems to have done some interesting work on solar cells as well.Yugen - 25-1-2015 at 01:32
I suppose I am being too paranoid about toxicology (especially considering aniline is potentially poisonous itself).
Still, disregarding toxicology, there's still the nitration of benzene with nitric acid to deal with. I am lazy... I was hoping other people were also
lazy too... It would be great if there was a cheap commercial product which could be used to obtain aniline from (by simple distillation hopefully).gdflp - 25-1-2015 at 06:48
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=4201&a... This process uses benzoic acid and urea as starting materials. Some Notes:You'll
need a good hotplate to keep the melt at an even temp of 180°C, and in my experience undershooting by 5-10° is better than overshooting by that same
amount. Use a digital thermocouple and monitor the reaction temp every 10-15mins.CuReUS - 25-1-2015 at 07:28
halobenzenes can be converted to aniline using lithium in liquid NH3
but I dont know any OTC source for halobenzene
chlorobenzene is a common solvent
Mg can be obtained from computer parts-from the first link
" Cheaper. Old computer hardware, as well as automotive parts, are made of pure Mg -- this scrap material could readily be condorated, or used as is,
for a fraction of what it costs to purchase."
but maybe the Mg might not be fine enough for a grignard reaction
[Edited on 25-1-2015 by CuReUS]Lambda-Eyde - 25-1-2015 at 07:40
It would be great if there was a cheap commercial product which could be used to obtain aniline from (by simple distillation hopefully).
There is, sort of. Acetanilide. UnintentionalChaos has written about it earlier; UTFSE.Scr0t - 25-1-2015 at 14:49
reagent_shop on ebay carry acetanilide for $58 /500g ($15.7/mol) however if you go to their home website they do sell straight aniline for $104 /500g
($19.4/mol) where price includes postage.
Acetanilide is the better deal plus it's safer to ship. It's easily hydrolyzed to aniline in high yield.
chemdreamland-eu on ebay used to carry much cheaper aniline (unlisted) but it seems he's no longer operating now unfortunately.S.C. Wack - 25-1-2015 at 16:40
Benzoic acid and benzamide may be the cheapest non-benzene option short of import these days...another thing that can be mixed with hydroxide to give
aniline would be its salts, a convenient shipping and storage form, especially when your use calls for dissolving aniline in acid. A certain reseller
used to sell kilos of Indian sulfate dirt, dirt cheap; they were then mentioned often as a cheap source of chemicals...so they went with selling at
the same price as the big boys that don't sell to residential addresses for some reason, and nothing there has ever been cheap again and never will...
[Edited on 26-1-2015 by S.C. Wack]fractional - 30-1-2015 at 05:11
It would be great if there was a cheap commercial product which could be used to obtain aniline from (by simple distillation hopefully).
There is, sort of. Acetanilide. UnintentionalChaos has written about it earlier; UTFSE.
Aniline from acetanilide is straightforward and high-yielding. In Europe acetanilide can be obtained fairly easily and comparatively cheaply (unlike
aniline).
A step by step instruction is available (in German) on:
