I see multiple sources online that say that simply distilling this will drive the reaction and get benzene, but I cannot seem to find any instructions
or procedures to make this go thru. Perhaps we should do some experimenting!
Phenol is 96 g/mol; benzene is 78; zinc is 65.5
What if we take 9.6 grams of phenol, make it into solution with n-BuOH (because of high boiling point) and add molar excess of zinc, ~10g. What would
happen if we reflux this for 30 minutes, then set up for distillation. Will benzene come over at 80 C? I don't see any benzene/alcohol azeotropes.
Besides- is benzene not insoluble? Maybe we can separate then distill?
Assuming 100% yield, we will get 7.8 g benzene... but because we are human we could probably expect 5 mL, right?
Any insight goes appreciated, thanks!plante1999 - 24-2-2014 at 04:23
You should reflux the phenol without solvent. I remember having read that experiment in an old book about lecture experiments, apparently you heat
zinc dust in a tube and pass hot phenol fumes that condenses in benzene.ScienceHideout - 24-2-2014 at 05:23
Nice input! I would like to try that... just something about liquefied phenol makes me uncomfortable though. I don't know if it is the smell, the
phenol that is left on the glassware, or perhaps the movie "unstoppable" but there must be another way...
But thanks anyways, Plante!bfesser - 24-2-2014 at 05:50
[Edited on 24-2-2014 by ScienceHideout]Zyklon-A - 24-2-2014 at 12:16
Wikipedia say's, "Phenol is reduced to benzene when it is distilled with zinc dust or its vapor is passed over granules of zinc at 400 °C:
C6H5OH + Zn → C6H6 + ZnO.
