Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Phenylacetamide

roger2003 - 25-3-2004 at 14:59

There is a Chinese patent - CN1110677 - for preparing phenylacetamide from styrene, sulfur, NH4OH and EtOH by refluxing at 95° C

Anyone can translate the experimental part ?

tom haggen - 26-3-2004 at 12:00

You could try to reinstall your os and configure it to be in chinese and translate that way.

Polverone - 26-3-2004 at 13:17

Tom haggen: that won't work.

Some of the graduate students here are Chinese. How to ask nicely for an English translation of the experimental portion? Alas, none of the Chinese students are chemists, so I don't know how adept they'd be at Chinese<->English chemical terminology.

Chinese patent

roger2003 - 27-3-2004 at 02:07

I think, the answer to my questions is possible without chmical knowledge.

In the patent is used

21,7 g
37,5 g
50 ml
30 ml

What is styrene, sulfur, ethanol an (aqueous ?) ammonia solution

what is the percentage of water/ammonia and ethanol/water ?

The british patent GB607765 described a synthesis of phenylacetamide from styrene, aqueous ammonia and sulphur in pyridine

The question last and least: Does the Chinese sythesis work in the same manner by changing the pyridine to ethanol

[Edited on 27-3-2004 by roger2003]

another example

Polverone - 29-3-2004 at 16:08

Quite possibly you're already aware of this, and just wish to avoid high-pressure methods. Still:

Studies on the Willgerodt Reaction. I. Some Extensions of the Reaction
John A. King, Freeman H. McMillan;
J. Am. Chem. Soc.; 1946; 68(3); 525-526.
Quote:
Yellow ammonium sulfide was prepared according to the directions of Willgerodt and Merk. Concentrated ammonium hydroxide (200 cc.) was saturated at room temperature with hydrogen sulfide. To the solution, which weighed 244 g., there was added 24.4 g. of sulfur, which was stirred into solution.

Phenylacetone was prepared by the method used by Baker for 1-anisyl-2-butanone. The same material was also prepared much more easily by the method of Magidson and Garkusha. When the preparation was carried out on a scale four times as large as reported by Magidson and Garkusha there was obtained, in addition to phenylacetone, b. p. 88-92 degrees (6 rnm.), 37 g. of a fraction, b. 2. 171-179 degrees (6 mm.), which gave an oxime, m. p. 119-122 . The oxime of s-diphenylacetone is variously reported to melt from 118 to 125 degrees. Phenylmethylcarbinol was prepared by aluminum isopropoxide reduction of acetophenone, by the procedure of Lund; the product boiled at 77-81 degrees (5 mm.). The styrene used was Eastman Kodak Co. White Label material.

Styrene and Ammonium Polysulfide.-Styrene (3.0 g.) and ammonium polysulfide (15 g.) were heated four hours at 210 +- 5 degrees C in a pressure tube. The crude product, isolated as above, weighed 1.64 g. (49% yield, crude) ; after recrystallization from water it melted at 156-157", undepressed when mixed with an authentic sample of phenylacetamide.


Edit: I had the wrong article attribution before. How embarassing.

[Edited on 3-31-2004 by Polverone]