Sciencemadness Discussion Board

unknown reaction

fausap - 24-4-2020 at 05:41

Hello all,

in my quest to find some new film developers, I got this reaction, in water:

Metol + Sodium Hydroxide + Sodium sulfite

Metol is (C7H10NO)2SO4

This should be a very slow reaction.
Is it possible, after 1 month, I got p-Aminophenol in solution?

p-Aminophenol is C6H7NO

I attached a file with the structures.

thanks,
Fausto

Attachment: metol_rodinal.pdf (220kB)
This file has been downloaded 288 times

numos - 24-4-2020 at 16:24

Would be a pretty cool reaction if it worked, but seems a little unlikely.

As soon as you add base to the reaction you will generate the N-methylaminophenol freebase and sodium sulfate. I don't think that's super soluble in water, likely precluding any further reactions, at least at room temperature. Not too sure if sodium sulfite is known for it's demethylating abilities either.

I think p-aminophenol can be generated from Tylenol pretty easily though?

fausap - 24-4-2020 at 20:40

Quote: Originally posted by numos  
Would be a pretty cool reaction if it worked, but seems a little unlikely.

As soon as you add base to the reaction you will generate the N-methylaminophenol freebase and sodium sulfate. I don't think that's super soluble in water, likely precluding any further reactions, at least at room temperature. Not too sure if sodium sulfite is known for it's demethylating abilities either.

I think p-aminophenol can be generated from Tylenol pretty easily though?


that's very interesting. Do you have any pointer to the Tylenol reaction?

thanks,
Fausto