A process scheme involving transalkylation reactions to prepare o-bromophenol from phenol

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/op9800360

The bromination of phenol to o-bromophenol was carried out by protecting the para position with a tert-butyl group. The latter group was subsequently transferred to toluene using aluminum chloride as a catalyst. The resulting mixture of p-and m-tert-butyltoluene could be converted back to p-tert-butylphenol by transalkylation of the former with phenol in the presence of Engelhard, F-24. Thus, a process scheme based on transalkylation reactions as the intermediate steps has been proposed to synthesize o-bromophenol from phenol via p-tert-butylphenol. The effect of reaction parameters on overall conversion to and selectivity with respect to the desired product was studied for the transalkylation reactions involved in the process.