Sciencemadness Discussion Board

2-Phenylethyl alcohol

grunechemie - 7-3-2015 at 11:49

Hello everyone. I am a last year chemical engineering student, and my final coursework's subject is the production of 2-phenylethyl alcohol by Friedel-Crafts method.

The problem is that I am having trouble finding useful references that detail certain aspects of the process, like the conversion of the reaction and distillation conditions. I've already looked into all the books my teacher recommended me, but all I could find were sketches and brief descriptions.

After digging a little harder, I managed to find some information about the yields of the process under different conditions. But still nothing about how much PEA is produced in the reactor and how much is lost during the purification steps.

If anyone more experienced could possibly help me, that would be fantastic.

Magpie - 7-3-2015 at 13:32

What are your reactants?

solo - 7-3-2015 at 14:11


....(deleted) i misread phenylethyl alcohol for phenylethylamine...solo

[Edited on 8-3-2015 by solo]

grunechemie - 7-3-2015 at 14:29

Thanks for the help but, as I said, the method must be Friedel-Crafts, and the product must be ß-PEA and not alpha-PEA.

Benzene (large excess) + ethylene oxide + AlCl3 -> ß-PEA

EDIT:
By PEA I mean phenylethyl alcohol, not amine. But thanks anyway.

[Edited on 7-3-2015 by grunechemie]

Magpie - 7-3-2015 at 15:40

Quote: Originally posted by grunechemie  
Hello everyone. I am a last year chemical engineering student, and my final coursework's subject is the production of 2-phenylethyl alcohol by Friedel-Crafts method.


Are you sure your professor didn't ask for use of a Grignard reaction instead of a Friedel-Crafts?

Etaoin Shrdlu - 7-3-2015 at 15:58

Is the patent of any help? http://www.google.com/patents/US2483323

grunechemie - 7-3-2015 at 16:55

Quote: Originally posted by Magpie  
Quote: Originally posted by grunechemie  
Hello everyone. I am a last year chemical engineering student, and my final coursework's subject is the production of 2-phenylethyl alcohol by Friedel-Crafts method.


Are you sure your professor didn't ask for use of a Grignard reaction instead of a Friedel-Crafts?


Yes, completely sure.
Quote: Originally posted by Etaoin Shrdlu  
Is the patent of any help? http://www.google.com/patents/US2483323


Thats not exactly what I was expecting but it actually looks pretty good to me. Gonna show my professor and see what he thinks about it. Thank you! :)