Highly regioselective di-tert-amylation of naphthalene over reusable H-mordenite zeolite

Article abstract of DOI:10.1039/c2gc16443d

Highly regioselective di-tert-amylation of naphthalene using different alcohols can be achieved over a H-mordenite (HM) zeolite. For example, the tert-amylation of naphthalene using tert-amyl alcohol in cyclohexane over HM (Si/Al = 10) zeolite has been optimised to give a 70% yield of 2,6-dialkylnaphthalenes, of which 2,6-di-tert-amylnaphthalene was produced in 46% yield along with 2-tert-amyl-6-tert-butylnaphthalene (23%) and 2,6-di-tert-butylnaphthalene (1%). This has been achieved by varying the reaction time, temperature, pressure and amounts of tert-amyl alcohol and zeolite. No 2,7-dialkylnaphthalenes were seen under the conditions tried. The zeolites can be easily regenerated by heating and then reused.

Full text of DOI:10.1039/c2gc16443d

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PAPER
Highly regioselective di-tert-amylation of naphthalene over reusable
H-mordenite zeolite†
Keith Smith,* Alaa K. H. Al-Khalaf, Gamal A. El-Hiti‡* and Samuel Pattisson
Received 11th November 2011, Accepted 31st January 2012
DOI: 10.1039/c2gc16443d
Highly regioselective di-tert-amylation of naphthalene using different alcohols can be achieved over a
H-mordenite (HM) zeolite. For example, the tert-amylation of naphthalene using tert-amyl alcohol in
cyclohexane over HM (Si/Al = 10) zeolite has been optimised to give a 70% yield of
2,6-dialkylnaphthalenes, of which 2,6-di-tert-amylnaphthalene was produced in 46% yield along with
2-tert-amyl-6-tert-butylnaphthalene (23%) and 2,6-di-tert-butylnaphthalene (1%). This has been achieved
by varying the reaction time, temperature, pressure and amounts of tert-amyl alcohol and zeolite.
No 2,7-dialkylnaphthalenes were seen under the conditions tried. The zeolites can be easily regenerated
by heating and then reused.
syntheses through their abilities to act as recyclable hetero-
Introduction
geneous catalysts, support reagents, entrain by-products, avoid
aqueous work-ups and enhance product selectivities.17–22 For
example, we have shown that zeolites or other solids can have
advantages in nitration,23–28 bromination,29 chlorination,30
methanesulfonylation31 and acylation32,33 as well as alky-
lation34,35 of aromatic compounds.
Indeed, a degree of β-selectivity in dimethylation of naphtha-
lene has been achieved over zeolite HZSM-5, whereas non-
selective methylation was seen over the larger pore H-mordenite
(HM) and HY zeolites.36 However, even using HZSM-5, a poor
yield of the 2,6-isomer was obtained and the ratio of 2,6/2,7
isomers was approximately 1.
Since other 2,6-dialkylnaphthalenes can in principle also be
oxidised to NDA, attempts to gain greater control have been
extended to the use of alternative alkylating agents. Isopropyla-
tion of naphthalene with propene,37 isopropyl alcohol38–42 and
isopropyl bromide43 has been studied using a variety of zeolites
and β,β-selectivities of over 75%, with a 2,6/2,7 ratio of approxi-
mately 2, have been reported using H-mordenite.44 The best iso-
propylation procedure gave 2,6-di-isopropylnaphthalene in 54%
yield, along with 14% of 2,7-di-isopropylnaphthalene, i.e. a 2,6/
2,7 ratio of 4.44 The best reported cyclohexylation makes use of
HY zeolite, and results in the corresponding 2,6-dicyclohexyl-
naphthalene in 19% yield, along with 17% of 2,7-dicyclohexyl-
naphthalene, i.e. a 2,6/2,7 ratio of 1.1.45 The same authors also
reported tert-butylation to give a 23% yield of 2,6-di-tert-butyl-
naphthalene, with around 4% of 2,7-di-tert-butylnaphthalene,
i.e. a 2,6/2,7 ratio of 5.9, with the added advantage of easy separ-
ation of the 2,6-isomer by crystallisation.46,47
There is considerable interest in the use of zeolites to control
alkylation of naphthalene,1–14 primarily as a result of the com-
mercial importance of 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene (DMN), a pre-
cursor of naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (NDA), which is
needed for production of poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN).
Current methods for the production of DMN are cumbersome
and low yielding and require the separation of complex mixtures,
including isomers,15 followed by extensive recycling in order to
provide a reasonable quantity of product. Consequently, the util-
isation of PEN is limited by the commercial availability and cost
of DMN. A greener method for production of DMN or an
alternative PEN precursor, involving fewer processes, higher
yields of desired products, and less need for separation and recy-
cling, is much needed.
A convenient process for preparation of DMN would be selec-
tive dimethylation of naphthalene. Unfortunately, in addition to
the usual problems of polyalkylation, the β-positions of naphtha-
lene are less reactive than the α-positions and there are 10
possible isomeric dimethylnaphthalenes, so simple double
methylation of naphthalene is not easy to control to give the
specific compound required. Mixtures of isomers are produced
and require separation.16 Since the 2,6-disubstituted compounds
are the most “linear” isomers, zeolites offer a possible way to
favour such products.
It is well recognised that zeolites and other solid catalysts can
play an important role in the development of greener organic
School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Main Building, Park Place,
Cardiff, UK, CF10 3AT. E-mail: smithk13@cardiff.ac.uk, el-hitiga@
cardiff.ac.uk; Fax: +44(0)2920870600; Tel: +44(0)2920870600
†CCDC 827589. For crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic
format see DOI: 10.1039/c2gc16443d
By studying the above reaction in more detail, we have pre-
viously shown that highly regioselective di-tert-butylation of
naphthalene can be achieved over zeolite H-mordenite using
tert-butyl alcohol as the alkylating agent under autoclave con-
ditions.34,35 The process was a convenient, high yielding and
‡Permanent address: Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta
University, Tanta 31527, Egypt.
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Table 1 Typical properties of the commercial zeolites2,50
Zeolite
Product code Si/Al ratio Nominal cation form Na2O (wt%) Pore volumea (Å3) Pore diameter (Å)
Surface area (m2 g−1
780
)
HY
Hβ
HM
HM
CBV 720
15
H
0.03
0.05
0.08
0.05
0.05
730
150
150
150
130
7.4 × 7.4
6.6 × 7.7 & 5.5 × 5.6 720
CP 811E-150 75
NH4
NH4
H
CBV 21A
CBV 90A
10
45
15
6.5 × 7.0
6.5 × 7.0
5.3 × 5.6 & 5.1 × 5.5 400
500
500
HZSM-5 CBV 3024E
NH4
a Pore volume was calculated using the formula: = 4/3π(Di/2)3, where Di represents the maximum included sphere diameter (Å).50
Scheme 1 tert-Amylation of naphthalene (1) using tert-amyl alcohol over zeolite catalysts under autoclave conditions.
highly regioselective method for the synthesis of 2,6-di-tert-
butylnaphthalene, which was produced in 60% yield, along with
only 1% of 2,7-di-tert-butylnaphthalene, i.e. a 2,6/2,7 ratio of
over 50.34,35 Although this method is easily the most selective
yet discovered for the production of 2,6-dialkylnaphthalene, it
may be difficult to oxidise the tert-butyl group to a carboxyl
group.48 Therefore, we were interested to see if a process could
be devised that would give a 2,6-dialkylnaphthalene in which
the alkyl groups could be cracked to an alkyl group that could be
oxidised relatively easily to a carboxyl group.49 We decided to
undertake a study of dialkylation of naphthalene using various
alcohols over different zeolites in a solvent under autoclave con-
ditions similar to those used successfully in tert-butylation of
naphthalene.34,35 We now report the details of such a study.
yields obtained are given in Table 2. Several other minor peaks
were seen in the gas chromatograph (GC), some of which were
shown (by conducting an experiment in the absence of naphtha-
lene) to arise from the decomposition of tert-amyl alcohol under
the reaction conditions.
The results reported in Table 2 indicated that HY (Si/Al = 15)
was not selective and produced various other alkylated naphtha-
lenes. Zeolite HZSM-5 gave 2-tert-amylnaphthalene (2) in 13%
yield along with 2-tert-butylnaphthalene (3; 1.5%) with low con-
version (15%). No dialkylnaphthalenes were formed, presumably
because the pores were too small to allow dialkylation to occur.
The other zeolites tried were more reactive and more regioselec-
tive to produce 2,6-dialkylnaphthalenes 4–6. In the case of the
HM zeolites no 2,7-dialkyl isomers were observed. Zeolite HM
(Si/Al = 10) was found to be more reactive than zeolite HM
(Si/Al = 45). With HM (Si/Al = 10), a naphthalene conversion
of 83% and a 22.5% yield of 2,6-dialkyl products, of which
2,6-di-tert-amylnaphthalene 4 represented an overall 16% yield,
were observed. 2-tert-Amylnaphthalene (2) was found to be the
major product, produced in 60% yield, while, 2-tert-butyl-
naphthalene (3) was present in very low yield. Therefore, we
undertook a more detailed study of the reaction with HM (Si/Al
= 10) as activator in the hope of enhancing the conversion of 1
and 2 to 4.
Compounds 3, 5 and 6 were presumably obtained as a result
of generation of tert-butyl carbocation through breakdown of
tert-amyl cation produced from tert-amyl alcohol in the presence
of acidic zeolite. tert-Amyl derivatives were produced in a
similar way during reactions of naphthalene with tert-butanol,34
indicating that interconversion of tert-butyl and tert-amyl cations
occurs under the conditions (Scheme 2). However, the yields of
tert-butyl derivatives in reactions involving tert-amyl alcohol
were much greater than the yields of the corresponding tert-amyl
compounds had been in reactions involving tert-butyl alcohol.
Results and discussion
We have shown previously that the best results obtained for the
tert-butylation of naphthalene using tert-butyl alcohol under
autoclave conditions involved the use of cyclohexane as a
solvent and HM (Si/Al = 10) zeolite as a catalyst at 180 °C.34,35
Initially, a range of different commercial zeolites was screened
for efficiency in the tert-amylation of naphthalene (1; 10 mmol)
using tert-amyl alcohol under self generated pressure
(50–150 psi) in cyclohexane, under conditions as close as
possible to those used in the tert-butylation reactions.34,35 The
properties of the zeolites used in this study are recorded in
Table 1. The zeolites were calcined prior to use, which would
have converted any ammonium forms into the corresponding
proton forms. The major products of the tert-amylation reaction
were 2-tert-amylnaphthalene (2), 2-tert-butylnaphthalene (3),
2,6-di-tert-amylnaphthalene (4), 2-tert-amyl-6-tert-butylnaphtha-
lene (5), and 2,6-di-tert-butylnaphthalene (6) (Scheme 1) and the
1104 | Green Chem., 2012, 14, 1103–1110
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This presumably reflects easier diffusion of tert-butyl derivatives
than tert-amyl ones within the zeolite pores, a phenomenon that
may also be responsible for the greater 2,6-selectivity exhibited
in reactions involving tert-amyl alcohol.
In order to test the effect of solvent in the reaction, reactions
were carried out in several different solvents for 6 h at 180 °C in
an autoclave. The results are recorded in Table 3.
enhancement, it was decided to use only self-generated pressure
for further reactions to try to improve the yield of 4.
In order to gauge the effect of temperature, the reaction temp-
erature was varied in 10 °C stages from 140 to 200 °C over 4.0 g
of HM (Si/Al = 10). The results obtained are given in Table 4.
It was found that when the temperature was increased from
140 to 180 °C, the conversion increased from 5 to 81% and the
yield of 4 increased from 0 to 12%. However, when the tempera-
ture was increased further to 200 °C, both conversion and yield
of 4 were seen to fall, to 69 and 8%, respectively. In addition,
the yield of 5 was seen to decrease when the yield of 4 decreased
at the higher temperatures, but the yield of 6 seemed to increase.
However, the maximum yields of 3 and 6 were only 3 and 1%,
respectively. It is clear that 2 is still the major product in all
cases. Therefore, it was decided to standardise the temperature at
180 °C for further reactions.
With isopentane, dichloromethane and tetrachloroethene as the
solvents, the reactions were significantly slower than the reac-
tions carried out in other solvents. The yields of 4 and 5 were
highest (16 and 6%, respectively) when the reaction was carried
out in cyclohexane. It seemed that the best solvent was cyclo-
hexane, which had already been used in the earlier study
(Table 2).
Increased pressure could, in principle, enhance the rate of
reaction through forcing hindered reactants into the pores of the
zeolite. Our attention was therefore turned to an investigation of
the effect of pressure on the reaction represented in Scheme 1.
Several tert-amylation reactions of naphthalene (1; 10 mmol)
were carried out using tert-amyl alcohol (20 mmol) over HM
(Si/Al = 10; 4 g) in cyclohexane (50 mL) at 180 °C for 6 h
under various initial external pressures (150–500 psi) of nitrogen
gas in an autoclave. However, it was found that when the starting
pressure was increased from 150 to 500 psi, the conversion and
the yield of 4 decreased from 81 to 48% and from 12 to 3%,
respectively. Compound 2 was the major product (31–58%) in
all cases. The ratio of 4 : 5 appeared to diminish slightly at the
higher pressures, but the yield of 6 was very low (0.5–1%) in all
cases. Since applying additional pressure offered no yield
We next varied the quantity of HM (Si/Al = 10) in stages from
2 to 8 g under otherwise constant reaction conditions, without
any externally applied pressure.
However, varying the amount of zeolite had no consistent
effect on the conversion or on the yield of 4. When the amount
of the HM catalyst was 6 g, the conversion of naphthalene, the
yield of 4 and the selectivity were all relatively high, but the lack
of any trend implied that other factors (such as the efficiency of
stirring mixtures containing large amounts of solid) might be
equally significant and any increase in the yield of 4 would not
justify the use of a large quantity of catalyst. Therefore, 4 g of
catalyst was retained for further investigations.
To determine if there was any benefit to be gained by varying
the amount of the reagent, the amount of tert-amyl alcohol was
varied over 4.0 g of HM at 180 °C. The amount of tert-amyl
Table 2 tert-Amylation of naphthalene (1) using tert-amyl alcohol
over various zeolites under autoclave conditions according to Scheme 1a
Yieldsb (%)
Table 3 Effect of solvent in the tert-amylation of naphthalene (1)
using tert-amyl alcohol over HM (Si/l = 10) under autoclave conditions
according to Scheme 1a
Zeolite
1
2
3
4
5
6
HM (Si/Al = 10)
HM (Si/Al = 45)
Hβ (Si/Al = 75)
17
53
32
6
60
31
57
10
13
0.5
2.5
1.5
1
16
8
1
1
—
6
3
4
1
—
0.5
0.5
1.5
2
Yieldsb (%)
Solvent
1
2
3
4
5
6
HY (Si/Al = 15)c
HZSM-5 (Si/Al = 15)
85
1.5
—
Cyclohexane
Isopentane
Heptane
Dichloromethane
1,2-Dichloroethane
Tetrachloroethene
17
95
65
89
54
85
60
3
23
7
34
9
0.5
2
1.5
0.5
1
16
—
5
1
6
6
—
2
—
4
—
0.5
—
—
—
1
a Autoclave reaction with stirring for 6 h under self generated pressure at
180 °C; zeolite catalyst (4.0 g), cyclohexane (50 mL), naphthalene
(1.28 g; 10 mmol) and tert-amyl alcohol (1.76 g; 20 mmol).
b Determined by GC based on the response factors of 1, 2 and 4. It was
assumed that the response factor of 3 is the same as for 2 and those of 5
and 6 are the same as for 4. Numbers expressed as percentages have
been rounded to the nearest whole number, except for yields below 3%,
which have been rounded to the nearest 0.5%. c Various other alkylated
naphthalenes were produced.
—
1
—
a Autoclave reaction with stirring for 6 h under self generated pressure at
180 °C; HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), solvent (50 mL), naphthalene (1.28 g;
10 mmol) and tert-amyl alcohol (1.76 g; 20 mmol). b See footnote b to
Table 2.
Scheme 2 Interconversion of tert-amyl and tert-butyl cations over zeolite.
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Table 4 Varying the temperature in the tert-amylation of naphthalene
(1) using tert-amyl alcohol over HM (Si/Al = 10) under autoclave
conditions according to Scheme 1a
Table 6 Varying the reaction time and quantity of tert-amyl alcohol in
the tert-amylation of naphthalene (1) over HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g)
according to Scheme 1a
Yieldsb (%)
Yieldsb (%)
Time
(h)
tert-Amyl alcohol
(mmol)
T/°C
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
140
150
160
170
180
190
200
95
87
71
36
19
25
31
3
—
2
3
3
0.5
0.5
1.5
—
1
2
—
—
1
5
10
8
—
—
—
—
0.5
0.5
1
1
3
6
12
6
12
24
1
20
20
20
20
40
40
40
80
80
80
43 47
34 52
16 60
25 55
22 54
29 55
16 52
—
0.5
0.5 16
0.5 13
0.5 15
0.5 10
6
9
3
4
6
6
8
5
—
0.5
1
0.5
0.5
0.5
1.5
—
—
—
10
23
47
58
56
52
5
12
10
8
6
0.5 19 11
100
90
—
8
—
—
—
—
1
2
—
—
—
a Autoclave reaction with stirring for 6 h under self generated pressure;
HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), cyclohexane (50 mL), naphthalene (1.28 g;
10 mmol) and tert-amyl alcohol (1.76 g; 20 mmol). b See footnote b to
Table 2.
3
4
67 31
a Stirred autoclave reactions under self generated pressure at 180 °C;
HM (Si/Al = 10, 4.0 g), cyclohexane (50 mL), naphthalene (1.28 g;
10 mmol) and tert-amyl alcohol. b See footnote b to Table 2.
Table 5 Varying the quantity of tert-amyl alcohol in the tert-amylation
of naphthalene (1) over HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g) according to Scheme 1a
Yieldsb (%)
80 mmol, which gave a low conversion (33%) and yield of 4
(2%) after 4 h. The general trend on increasing the reaction time
was an increase in the conversion and yield of 4, but increases
were rather small after 6 h. Clearly, the majority of the reaction
occurred within the first 6 to 12 h, at least when 20 or 40 mmol
tert-amyl alcohol was used.
tert-Amyl alcohol (mmol)
1
2
3
4
5
6
20
40
60
80
30
16
21
40
52
51
50
49
2.5
1.5
3
9
5
11
8
1
1.5
1
19
14
7
0.5
3
0.5
As the conversion and yield of 4 were not improved very
much by increasing the amount of zeolite, an attempt was made
at multistaging the reaction. After each stage, the old zeolite was
removed; the product mixture was concentrated; and fresh
zeolite, tert-amyl alcohol and cyclohexane were added. Several
experiments were conducted in which the quantity of tert-amyl
alcohol was 20 mmol for 10 mmol of 1 and the reaction time
was 1 h in each experiment. The first stage was equivalent to the
normal 4 g/10 mmol reaction. The resulting product mixture was
reacted again with fresh zeolite, additional tert-amyl alcohol
(20 mmol) and fresh solvent. Therefore, after two stages, HM
(Si/Al = 10; 8 g) and tert-amyl alcohol (40 mmol) had been
reacted with the naphthalene (10 mmol). This process was then
repeated for third, fourth, fifth and sixth stages, such that catalyst
(24 g) and tert-amyl alcohol (120 mmol) were used in total,
although in principle these materials could be recycled. The
results obtained are given in Table 7.
The results reported in Table 7 clearly indicated that both the
conversion and yields of dialkylnaphthalenes 4–6 increased
stage by stage. After the sixth stage, the yields of 4 and 5 were
35 and 20%, respectively, while the yield of 6 was 2%.
We have also attempted to vary the reaction time (6 or 12 h) in
the multistaging tert-amylation of naphthalene (1) over HM
(Si/Al = 10) in cyclohexane in an attempt to increase the yield of
4. However, the yield of 4–6 obtained was only 49% after four
stages (Table 8).
a Autoclave reaction with stirring for 6 h under self generated pressure at
180 °C; HM (Si/Al = 10, 4.0 g), cyclohexane (50 mL), naphthalene
(1.28 g; 10 mmol) and tert-amyl alcohol. b See footnote b to Table 2.
alcohol was increased in stages from 20 to 80 mmol. The results
obtained are given in Table 5.
It was found that increasing the amount of tert-amyl alcohol
up to 40 mmol brought about increases in both the conversion
and the yield of 4, by 14 and 10%, respectively, perhaps because
of the higher concentration of the alkylating agent. However, use
of 60 and 80 mmol caused both the conversion and yield of 4 to
fall successively, perhaps as a result of deactivation of acidic
sites on the zeolite by interaction with the excess alcohol.
However, it was interesting to note that the selectivity for pro-
duction of 4 instead of 5 was somewhat greater in the presence
of a larger quantity of the alcohol. Therefore, it was of interest to
investigate the reactions in the presence of different quantities of
alcohol over longer reaction periods, which would hopefully
lead to higher conversions, while perhaps retaining the greater
selectivity.
A series of experiments was conducted in which the duration
of the reaction was varied from 1 to 12 h in cyclohexane
(50 mL) while the quantity of tert-amyl alcohol was also varied
(20 to 80 mmol for 10 mmol of 1). Because of difficulties
associated with representative sampling of heterogeneous reac-
tion mixtures in an autoclave, a separate experiment was con-
ducted for each data point, which could lead to some scattering
in the results because of variations in stirring efficiency and
other parameters. The results obtained are given in Table 6.
Table 6 shows that the reaction was faster with less tert-amyl
alcohol (20 mmol) than with the larger quantities, especially
Our attention was next turned to studying the effect of reaction
time and the quantity of tert-amyl alcohol in the multistaging
tert-amylation of naphthalene. Two different sets of experiments
were conducted in which the quantity of tert-amyl alcohol was
varied (20 or 80 mmol for 10 mmol of 1). The first stage was
equivalent to the normal 4 g/10 mmol reaction. The resulting
product mixture was reacted again with fresh zeolite, additional
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Table 7 Multistaging tert-amylation of naphthalene (1) over HM
Table 9 Multistaging tert-amylation of naphthalene (1) over HM
(Si/Al = 10) in cyclohexane for 1 h according to Scheme 1a
(Si/Al = 10) in cyclohexane for 6 h according to Scheme 1a
Yieldsb (%)
Yieldsb (%)
Stage
1
2
3
4
5
6
Stage tert-Amyl alcohol (mmol)
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
40
21
13
13
5
49
56
55
50
45
40
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
5
4
9
11
13
17
20
0.5
1
1
1
2
1
2
3
4
5
20
20
20
20
20
22 58
11 55 1.5 18 13
2
10
6
2
1.5
1
1
1
12
19
21
30
35
4
—
—
41 1.5 31 20
36
28
1
1
38 24
46 23
3
—
2
1
2
3
4
5
80
80
80
80
80
66 31
37 47
25 46
20 52 2.5 17
10 47 0.5 30 12
1
1
3
2
11
16
—
4
7
—
0.5
0.5
0.5
—
a Each stage is a 1 h stirred autoclave reaction under self generated
pressure at 180 °C; HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), cyclohexane (50 mL),
naphthalene (1.28 g; 10 mmol), tert-amyl alcohol (1.76 g; 20 mmol). At
the beginning of each stage, the old zeolite was removed by filtration
and washed with acetone (20 mL); the combined filtrates were allowed
to evaporate in air at atmospheric pressure for 6 h (to avoid losses of
more volatile components such as naphthalene) before addition of fresh
HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), fresh cyclohexane (50 mL) and fresh tert-amyl
alcohol (1.76 g; 20 mmol). b See footnote b to Table 2.
7
a Each stage was a 6 h stirred autoclave reaction under self-generated
pressure at 180 °C; HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), cyclohexane (50 mL),
naphthalene (1.28 g; 10 mmol, added at the first stage only), tert-amyl
alcohol. At the beginning of each stage, the old zeolite was removed by
filtration and washed with acetone (20 mL); the combined filtrates were
allowed to evaporate in air at atmospheric pressure for 6 h before
addition of fresh HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), fresh cyclohexane (50 mL)
and fresh tert-amyl alcohol. b See footnote b to Table 2.
Table 8 Multistaging tert-amylation of naphthalene (1) over HM
(Si/Al = 10) in cyclohexane for different times according to Scheme 1a
Yieldsb (%)
Table 10 Multistaging tert-amylation of naphthalene (1) over HM
(Si/Al = 10) using tert-amyl alcohol (50 mL) for 24 h according to
Scheme 1a
Stage
Time (h)
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
3
4
6
12
6
25
11
6
52
57
59
48
3
1.5
1
6
5
1
1.5
2
Yieldsb (%)
17
19
27
12
13
19
Stage
1
2
3
4
5
6
12
2
0.5
3
a Each stage involved a stirred autoclave reaction under self-generated
pressure at 180 °C; HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), cyclohexane (50 mL),
naphthalene (1.28 g; 10 mmol, added at the first stage only), tert-amyl
alcohol (1.76 g; 20 mmol) for the required time. At the beginning of
each stage, the old zeolite was removed by filtration and washed with
acetone (20 mL); the combined filtrates were allowed to evaporate in air
at atmospheric pressure for 6 h before addition of fresh HM (Si/Al = 10;
4.0 g), fresh cyclohexane (50 mL) and fresh tert-amyl alcohol (1.76 g;
20 mmol). b See footnote b to Table 2.
1
2
3
4
5
6
97
93
81
78
76
75
2
5
14
14
15
17
Traces
Traces
0.5
1
3
5
5
Traces
Traces
—
—
—
—
—
—
0.5
1
1
1
1
0.5
0.5
0.5
5
a Each stage was a 24 h stirred autoclave reaction under self-generated
pressure at 180 °C; HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), naphthalene (1.28 g;
10 mmol, added at the first stage only), tert-amyl alcohol (50 mL). At
the beginning of each stage, the old zeolite was removed by filtration
and washed with acetone (20 mL); the combined filtrates were allowed
to evaporate in air at atmospheric pressure for 6 h before addition of
fresh HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g) and fresh tert-amyl alcohol (50 mL). b See
footnote b to Table 2.
tert-amyl alcohol (20 or 80 mmol) and fresh solvent. Therefore,
after two stages, HM (Si/Al = 10; 8 g) and tert-amyl alcohol (40
or 160 mmol) had been reacted with the naphthalene (1;
10 mmol). This process was then repeated for third, fourth and
fifth stages, such that zeolite (20 g) and tert-amyl alcohol (100
or 400 mmol) were used in total. The results obtained are given
in Table 9.
used as the solvent in order to improve the selectivity towards
formation of 4 even further. The results obtained are given in
Table 10.
The results reported in Table 9 clearly indicated that reactions
with more alcohol proceeded more slowly than those with less.
With 80 mmol of alcohol at each stage the maximum conversion
after five stages was 90% and the combined yields of 4–6 were
42%, along with 47% of 2 and traces of 3. Higher yields and
conversions were obtained when 20 mmol of tert-amyl alcohol
was used at each stage (combined yield of 4–6 was 70% after 5
stages), but the selectivity for production of 4 over 5 was better
for reactions with 80 mmol of alcohol (after five stages the yield
of 4 was up to 30%, with only 12% of 5 and virtually no 6).
We therefore attempted the multistaging tert-amylation of
naphthalene (10 mmol) in which tert-amyl alcohol (50 mL) was
It was found that using tert-amyl alcohol as the solvent
resulted in a lower conversion (25%) even after 6 stages but the
reaction was more selective towards formation of 2,6-di-tert-
amylnaphthalene (4), giving a 4 : 5 ratio of 5. Also, no 2,6-di-
tert-butylnaphthalene (6) was formed under the conditions tried.
The maximum yield of 2,6-dialkylnaphthalenes obtained thus
so far was in the region of 70% and it seemed likely that this
would not be much improved under the kinds of conditions
tried. Therefore, our attention was turned to study the alkylation
of naphthalene using different alcohols under conditions similar
to those used with tert-amyl alcohol to see if any benefits could
be achieved.
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Scheme 3 Generation of tert-amyl cation from 3-methyl-2-butanol over an acidic zeolite.
Alkylations of naphthalene (1; 10 mmol) were attempted at
180 °C, using 2,2-dimethyl-1-propanol, 2,3-dimethyl-2-butanol
and 3-methyl-2-butanol (20 mmol in each case) over HM (Si/Al
= 10, 4 g) in cyclohexane (50 mL) under conditions similar to
those used for the reaction depicted in Scheme 1.
Table 11 Multistaging alkylation of naphthalene (1) using 3-methyl-2-
butanol over HM (Si/Al = 10) in cyclohexane for 6 ha
Yieldsb (%)
Stage
1
2
3
4
5
6
For the primary alcohol (2,2-dimethyl-1-propanol), it was not
surprising that no products were observed under these con-
ditions. With 2,3-dimethyl-2-butanol as an alkylating reagent,
naphthalene conversion was 20%. The major products were
mono-alkylated naphthalenes, namely 2-tert-amylnaphthalene
(2; 0.5%) and 2-tert-butylnaphthalene (3; 5%) along with
another mono-alkylated naphthalene, probably 2-(2,3-dimethyl-
2-butyl)naphthalene (ca. 8%). Dialkylated naphthalenes were
produced in low yields (ca. 0.5% each) as a mixture of
2,6-di-tert-amylnaphthalene (4), 2-tert-amyl-6-tert-butylnaphtha-
lene (5) and 2,6-di-tert-butylnaphthalene (6) along with another
dialkylated naphthalene, probably containing a (2,3-dimethyl-2-
butyl) group.
1
2
3
4
20
20
4
62
54
56
45
2.5
2.5
2
6
5
8
14
19
0.5
1
2
12
20
32
—
2
2
a Each stage was a 6 h stirred autoclave reaction under self-generated
pressure at 180 °C starting with naphthalene (1.28 g; 10 mmol); HM
(Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), cyclohexane (50 mL), and 3-methyl-2-butanol
(1.76 g; 20 mmol). At the beginning of each new stage, the old catalyst
was removed by filtration and washed with acetone (20 mL); the
combined filtrates were allowed to evaporate in air at atmospheric
pressure for 6 h before addition of fresh HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), fresh
cyclohexane (50 mL) and fresh alcohol (1.76 g; 20 mmol). b See
footnote b to Table 2.
With 3-methyl-2-butanol as alkylating reagent, a naphthalene
conversion of 80% was achieved. The yield of 2-tert-amyl-
naphthalene (2) was 62%. 2,6-Di-tert-amylnaphthalene (4) and
2-tert-amyl-6-tert-butylnaphthalene (5) were also formed in 6
and 5% yields, respectively, along with traces of 2,6-di-tert-
butylnaphthalene (6; 0.5%). The tert-amylated products were
presumably formed due to generation of tert-amyl cation from
3-methyl-2-butanol over the acidic zeolite (Scheme 3), while the
tert-butylated products would be produced due to the conversion
of tert-amyl cation to tert-butyl cation over HM zeolite
(Scheme 2).
In an attempt to increase the yield of 2,6-dialkylnaphthalenes
from the reaction with 3-methyl-2-butanol, the reaction was
carried out in multistage mode using naphthalene (1; 10 mmol),
and for each stage the alcohol (20 mmol), HM (Si/Al = 10; 4 g)
and cyclohexane (50 mL) at 180 °C for 6 h (Table 11).
The results reported in Table 11 showed that the conversion
was 80% after the first stage and increased to 100% after the
fourth stage. The yield of 2-tert-amylnaphthalene (2) was
reduced from 62 to 45% after the fourth stage. The maximum
yield of 2,6-dialkylnaphthalenes was 53%, of which the yield of
4 was 32%. Also, after the fourth stage, 2,6-dialkylnaphthalenes
5 and 6 were formed in 19 and 2% yields, respectively.
In order to check on the possibility of reuse of the zeolite, a
single reaction of 1 (10 mmol) was carried out using tert-amyl
alcohol (20 mmol), and the zeolite was recovered following
extraction of the products and was then regenerated by heating
overnight in air in an oven set at 550 °C. The regenerated zeolite
was then reused in an identical reaction. This process was
repeated several times with the same batch of zeolite. The yield
and selectivity of each reaction are recorded in Table 12. It
can be seen that the zeolite could be effectively recycled,
while retaining substantial activity and selectivity even after six
uses.
Table 12 Efficiency of recycled calcined HM (Si/Al = 10) zeolite in
tert-amylation of naphthalene (1) in cyclohexane according to
Scheme 1a
Yieldsb (%)
Run
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
22
21
20
21
20
23
58
59
59
57
58
57
2
2
2
3
2
2
10
9
10
11
10
9
6
5
6
5
5
4
2
3
2
2
2
3
a Stirred autoclave reaction for 6 h under self generated pressure at
180 °C; HM (Si/Al = 10, 4.0 g), cyclohexane (50 mL), naphthalene
(1.28 g; 10 mmol) and tert-amyl alcohol (1.76 g; 20 mmol). The
reaction was scaled down after the first use of zeolite. b See footnote b to
Table 2.
Conclusions
The autoclave reaction of tert-amyl alcohol with naphthalene at
180 °C in the presence of sufficient HM (Si/Al = 10) zeolite
provides a convenient method for the synthesis of 2,6-dialkyl-
naphthalenes selectively in high yields, with no 2,7-isomers
detected. However, in addition to 2,6-di-tert-amylnaphthalene,
a significant quantity of 2-tert-amyl-6-tert-butylnaphthalene is
also formed and is difficult to separate from the major product.
Heating easily regenerates the zeolite, which can be reused to
give results similar to those of a fresh sample.
The two major products of these reactions could both
have commercial significance. 2-tert-Amylnaphthalene is a
known lubricant,51 while 2,6-di-tert-amylnaphthalene, a novel
compound, could, in principle, be cracked49 to give DMN, a key
1108 | Green Chem., 2012, 14, 1103–1110
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Typical experimental procedure for the tert-amylation of
naphthalene using tert-amyl alcohol over HM zeolite
intermediate in the production of PEN. Current methods for pro-
duction of DMN involve multiple steps (at least one of which is
low yielding), difficult and tedious separations of isomers, and
isomerisation/recycling of by-products. Therefore, the present
method offers great potential for improving the “greenness” and
commercial viability of the production of PEN, although it
would probably need to be converted into a continuous process.
Quantities are recorded in the footnotes to the appropriate tables.
All reactions were carried out in a 100 ml Teflon-lined Parr auto-
clave, fitted with a thermocouple and gauge block assembly. To
the Teflon liner of the autoclave were added a magnetic bar,
naphthalene, tert-amyl alcohol and solvent. The mixture was
allowed to stir until all naphthalene had dissolved (ca. 5 min)
and then HM zeolite was added. The Teflon liner was transferred
into the stainless steel autoclave, which was sealed and heated
for the appropriate reaction time and temperature, with stirring,
under self-generated pressure. In some experiments the system
was artificially pressurised up to 500 psi with nitrogen gas prior
to heating. After the given reaction time, the heating device was
removed and the autoclave was allowed to cool to room tempera-
ture (ca. 2 h). The contents were removed and the apparatus was
then washed thoroughly with acetone. The acetone washings
were combined with the original contents and the catalyst was
removed by filtration. The solid was thoroughly extracted with
further acetone and the combined mother liquors were concen-
trated under reduced pressure. The product mixture was analysed
by quantitative gas chromatography using hexadecane as the GC
standard and the yields were calculated.
Experimental
Materials
Chemicals and solvents were purchased from Aldrich Chemical
Company and used without further purification. H-Mordenite
(HM; Si/Al = 10) zeolite was purchased from Zeolyst Inter-
national and freshly calcined at 550 °C for a minimum of 6 h
prior to use.
Analysis and characterization of the products
Product mixtures from the tert-amylation reactions of naphtha-
lene were subjected to gas chromatography using a Hewlett
Packard 5890 Series II Gas Chromatograph fitted with a Zebron
ZB-5 (5% phenyl–95% dimethylpolysiloxane), 0.32 mm ID
30 m length column. The GC conditions used for analysis were:
170 °C for 0.5 min, ramped to 300 °C at 4 °C min−1. The injec-
tion temperature and detection temperature were each 295 °C.
Hexadecane was used as a GC standard. The structure of the
novel compound 2,6-di-tert-amylnaphthalene (4) was confirmed
Preparation of a mixture of 2,6-dialkylnaphthalenes by
multistaging the reaction
A mixture of HM (Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), cyclohexane (50 mL),
naphthalene (1.28 g; 10 mmol, added at the first stage only) and
tert-amyl alcohol (1.76 g; 20 mmol) was heated at 180 °C for
6 h in an autoclave. The mixture was allowed to cool to room
temperature and the product mixture was concentrated (by allow-
ing the volatile components to evaporate over 6 h) and fresh HM
(Si/Al = 10; 4.0 g), fresh cyclohexane (50 mL) and fresh
tert-amyl alcohol (1.76 g; 20 mmol) were added. The reaction
was then allowed to proceed again under the same conditions.
The crude product obtained after multistaging the reaction five
times (Table 9) was a mixture of a white crystalline solid and an
oily material (2.41 g), which were separated by filtration and the
solid was washed with ethanol. The GC of oil and washing
(0.70 g) indicated the presence of 2-tert-amylnaphthalene (2) as
the major component along with traces of the other compounds.
The NMR analysis of the solid (1.71 g) showed the presence of
2,6-di-tert-amylnaphthalene (4) along with 2-tert-amyl-6-tert-
butylnaphthalene (5) and 2,6-di-tert-butylnaphthalene (6) in the
ratio of ca. 12 : 5 : 1. Crystallisation of this solid (ca. 0.1 g) from
ethanol provided colourless crystals of 4 that still contained a
significant quantity of 5 but which could be analysed by X-ray
crystallography to confirm the structure as 4 (Fig. 1).
1
by H and 13C NMR spectra, mass spectral analysis and X-ray
crystal structure (Fig. 1).
Melting points were determined by the open capillary method
using a Gallenkamp melting point apparatus and are reported
uncorrected. 1H and 13C NMR spectra were recorded on a
1
Bruker AV400 spectrometer operating at 400 MHz for H and
100 MHz for 13C measurements. Chemical shifts δ are reported
in parts per million (ppm) relative to TMS and coupling
constants J are in Hz. 13C multiplicities were revealed by DEPT
signals. Assignments of signals are based on integration values,
coupling patterns and expected chemical shift values. Mass
spectra were recorded on a GCT premier-EI mass spectrometer.
The X-ray single-crystal diffraction data were collected on a
Nonius Kappa CCD diffractometer using graphite-monochro-
mated Mo-Kα (λ = 0.710 73 Å) radiation. The structure of 4 was
solved by direct methods using SHELXS-9652 and refined with
all data on F2 full-matrix least squares using SHELXL-97.53
GC MS Analytical data for the mixture of 2,6-di-
alkylnaphthalenes 4–6
Yield: 1.71 g starting from naphthalene (1.28 g; 10 mmol).
EI-MS (%) 4: 268 (M+, 35), 253 (10), 239 (100), 224 (5), 210
(30), 195 (20), 167 (10), 141 (7), 128 (2), 71 (3); EI-MS (%) 5:
254 (M+, 19), 239 (10), 225 (100), 210 (10), 195 (10), 181 (5),
167 (7), 141 (7), 128 (2), 57 (2); EI-MS (%) 6: 240 (M+, 29),
Fig. 1 X-Ray crystal structure for 2,6-di-tert-amylnaphthalene (4).
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012
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Analytical data for 2,6-di-tert-amylnaphthalene (4), deduced
from the spectra of the mixture
1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 7.80 (d, J = 8.6 Hz, 2 H, H-4
and H-8), 7.72 (d, J = 1.7 Hz, 2 H, H-1 and H-5), 7.52 (dd, J =
1.7, 8.6 Hz, 2 H, H-3 and H-7), 1.78 (q, J = 7.5 Hz, 4 H, 2
CH
CH2CH3
̲
2CH3), 1.42 (s, 12 H, 4 CH3), 0.73 (t, J = 7.5 Hz, 6 H, 2
̲
); 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3): δ 146.6 (s, C-2 and
C-6), 131.9 (s, C-4a and C-8a), 127.9 (d, C-4 and C-8), 125.3
(d, C-3 and C-7), 124.0 (d, C-1 and C-5), 38.4 [s, C(CH3)2],
37.0 (t, CH2CH3), 29.0 [q, C(CH3)2], 9.6 (q, CH2CH3); HRMS
(EI): calcd for C20H28 [M+]: 268.2191; found: 268.2184.
Crystal data for 4: colourless, C20H28, T = 150(2) k, monocli-
nic, space group P21/n, a = 6.7860(18) Å, b = 12.584(2) Å, c =
9.896(3) Å, α = 90°, β = 94.038(8)°, γ = 90°, 1413 reflections
collected, 748 independent reflections, R = 0.1100, wR =
0.2877, R(int) = 0.0949. CCDC 827589.
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1110 | Green Chem., 2012, 14, 1103–1110
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