Neopentyl alcohol (CAS NO.: ), which is also known as 2,2-Dimethyl-1-propanol, could be produced through the following synthetic routes.

A. Preparation of hydroperoxide. In a 2-l. three-necked round-bottomed flask, equipped with a mechanical stirrer, a dropping funnel, and a thermometer, is placed 800 g. of 30% hydrogen peroxide. The flask is surrounded by an ice bath and rapid stirring is started. In the meantime, 800 g. of 95–96% sulfuric acid is added to 310 g. of cracked ice and the solution is cooled to 10°. When the temperature of the hydrogen peroxide reaches 5–10°, the cold sulfuric acid is added slowly from the dropping funnel during a period of about 20 minutes. The temperature of the solution should not exceed 20° during the addition. Commercial diisobutylene (224.4 g., 2 moles) is now added over a period of 5–10 minutes. The ice bath is removed and replaced by a water bath maintained at approximately 25°. Vigorous agitation is maintained for 24 hours. At the end of this time, mixing is discontinued, the mixture is transferred to a 2-l. separatory funnel and the two layers are allowed to separate.

B. Decomposition of hydroperoxide. The upper organic layer (240–250 g.) is removed and added with vigorous stirring to 500 g. of 70% sulfuric acid in a 1-l. three-necked round-bottomed flask fitted with thermometer, stirrer, and dropping funnel and surrounded by an ice bath. The reaction temperature is maintained at 15–25° during addition, which requires 65–75 minutes. Stirring is continued for 30 minutes at 5–10°, and then the reaction mixture is allowed to stand (0.5–3 hours) until the two layers are completely separated. The mixture is now transferred to a 1-l. separatory funnel and allowed to stand for about 15 minutes, after which time the lower layer is drawn off into 1 l. of water. The resulting mixture is distilled from a 3-l. flask without fractionation. The distillation is complete when 50–100 ml. of water has been collected. The upper organic layer from the distillate (180–190 g.) is removed and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate. The dried organic layer is filtered with the aid of a small amount of ether and distilled through an efficient fractionating column. The fraction which boils at 111–113° is collected. The yield is 60–70 g. (34–40% of theory, based upon the diisobutylene).