Direct Syntheses of Diphenylmethanol Derivatives from Substituted Benzenes and CHCl3 through Friedel-Crafts Alkylation and Post-Synthetic Hydrolysis or Alcoholysis Catalyzed by Alumina.

The present study reports an innovative finding that alumina containing water or primary alcohol catalyzes the hydrolysis or alcoholysis, respectively, of the product formed through AlCl3 -mediated Friedel-Crafts alkylation of methyl-substituted benzenes and CHCl3 . The former and later reactions mainly provided hydroxy- and alkoxy-substituted diarylmethanes, respectively, while the reference reactions without alumina provided bisarylchloromethane. This method enables the selective syntheses of diphenylmethanol derivatives with very simple procedures, without expensive reagents and apparatuses. Furthermore, the alumina used in the reaction could be recycled by washing with water and subsequent drying. From the viewpoint of material recycling, this function is very important for the development of sustainable chemical reactions.