Identification of the products of the reaction of 1 octene with phenol by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

The complex mixtures obtained by reaction of 1-octene with phenol in the presence of an acid catalyst have been separated by gas chromatography and the individual components identified by mass spectrometry. Procedures are described for assigning structures to the isomeric octyl phenyl ethers and the octylphenols that are the major products of reaction. As part of a study of the mechanistic details of the alkylation of phenol we required efficient and reliable means of identifying the products of alkylation. The particular system investigated, the reaction of an alkene with phenol in the presence of a solid acid catalyst, produces a complex mixture of products. 1 Not only can substitution occur at the different sites on the aromatic ring (as well as at the hydroxy function)