Abstract or Keywords
Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution Reactions (EAS) are widely studied, typically straightforward, and high yielding; however, an EAS reaction utilizing boron trifluoride diethyl etherate as a Lewis acid catalyst has variable temperature and time reported in literature reports. The goal of this study is to find optimal conditions for an EAS with boron trifluoride as a Lewis acid catalyst by conducting several reactions, under different conditions, of resorcinol with phenyl acetic acid in boron trifluoride to form 1-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-phenylethanone, Compound 2. To find the optimal conditions, phenylacetic acid and resorcinol were reacted for varying times and at varying temperatures. Each reaction was followed with the same purification steps that were identified as most successful in our previous unpublished study.1,2 After 15 reactions, it was concluded that the highest yielding and most pure product was formed when phenylacetic acid and resorcinol reacted in boron trifluoride at 110 °C for 30 minutes.