thesmug
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Reactions with toluene
Earlier today I got some toluene for solvent use but I was wondering if there are any uses for it as a reagent other than making xylene, benzene,
phenol and TNT. I read somewhere that you can use it as part of the process of making luminol, is this true?
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Metacelsus
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You could halogenate it and use it to add benzyl groups. Luminol is made from phthalic anhydride, not toluene.
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thesmug
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You simply add toluene to iron and a halogen to halogenate it, correct?
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mnick12
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No,
Adding iron and conducting a halogenation would give you ring substituted product(s), it would not halogenate the benzylic carbon. Iron reacts in
anhydrous conditions to form ferric chloride, a strong lewis acid, which promotes electrophilic aromatic substitution.
If you want the benzylic carbon halogenated you need to do it under free radical conditions, however this will give you a mix of stuff that needs to
be separated. Look around to see what others have done.
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=10256
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