Friedel-Crafts Reaction

Name:
Friedel-Crafts Reaction
Detailed information:
A type of reaction involving anhydrous aluminum chloride and similar metallic halides as catalysts, discovered in 1877 by Charles Friedel, a French chemist (1832–1899), and James Mason Crafts, an American chemist (1830–1917), during joint research in France; it has been developed since then for many important industrial uses, exemplified by the condensation of ethyl chloride and benzene to form ethylbenzene and the manufacture of acetophenone from acetyl chloride and benzene. The name is now applied to a wide variety of acid-catalyzed organic reactions.

Use:

Alkylation and acylation in general. Some examples are the production of high-octane gasoline, cumene, detergent alkylate, and various plastics and elastomers.