ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Conversion of phenylacetonitrile in supercritical alcohols within a system containing small volume of water

Zhi-Qiang Hou, Rui-Zhe Zhang, Li-Gang Luo, Jing Yang, Chun-Ze Liu, Yuan-Yuan Wang, and Li-Yi Dai

Department of Chemistry, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China

E-mail: yywang@chem.ecnu.edu.cn

Abstract: The reaction of phenylacetonitrile in supercritical methanol and ethanol in a system containing a small volume of water was studied. The effects of various operating conditions, such as reaction temperature, reaction time, the mole ratio of phenylacetonitrile/water/methanol or ethanol on the product yield were systematically investigated. The optimal yield of methyl phenylacetate for phenylacetonitrile in supercritical methanol in a system containing a small volume of water was 70 % at 583 K and 2.5 h. The optimal yield of ethyl phenylacetate for phenylacetonitrile in supercritical ethanol with a small volume of water was 80 % at 583 K and 1.0 h. At the same time, a feasible mechanism was proposed for phenylacetonitrile in supercritical methanol and ethanol in a system containing a small volume of water.

Keywords: phenylacetonitrile – supercritical methanol/ethanol – methyl phenylacetate – ethyl phenylacetate – alcoholysis reaction mechanism

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1515/chempap-2015-0047

Chemical Papers 69 (3) 490–494 (2015)