Silica Gel as an Effective Catalyst for the Alkylation of Phenols and Some Heterocyclic Compounds

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00196a012

In the presence of silica gel, the reaction of phenol with t-BuBr was examined under a variety of conditions and it was found that silica gel is an effective catalyst for the alkylation.As a result of this work 2-tert-butyl-, 2,6-di-tert-butyl-, and 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenols, all of which are hard to obtain directly by the Friedel-Crafts process, could be prepared easily by this one-step reaction.Several other alkyl halides were also used in this reaction.The alkylations of some heterocyclic aromatic compounds which cannot be alkylated by the conventional Friedel-Crafts method were also succesfully performed by this reaction.