Diphenylmethane

Diphenylmethane
Names
Preferred IUPAC name
1,1′-Methylenedibenzene
Other names
  • Diphenylmethane
  • Benzylbenzene
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
Abbreviations
  • BnPh
  • Ph2CH2
ChEBI
ChEMBL
ChemSpider
ECHA InfoCard 100.002.708 Edit this at Wikidata
MeSH Diphenylmethane
UNII
  • InChI=1S/C13H12/c1-3-7-12(8-4-1)11-13-9-5-2-6-10-13/h1-10H,11H2 checkY
    Key: CZZYITDELCSZES-UHFFFAOYSA-N checkY
  • InChI=1/C13H12/c1-3-7-12(8-4-1)11-13-9-5-2-6-10-13/h1-10H,11H2
    Key: CZZYITDELCSZES-UHFFFAOYAV
  • c1c(cccc1)Cc2ccccc2
Properties
C13H12
Molar mass 168.239 g·mol−1
Appearance colourless oil
Density 1.006 g/mL
Melting point 22 to 24 °C (72 to 75 °F; 295 to 297 K)
Boiling point 264 °C (507 °F; 537 K)
14 mg/L
Acidity (pKa) 32.2
−115.7×10−6 cm3/mol
Hazards
Occupational safety and health (OHS/OSH):
Main hazards
 flammable
Flash point > 110 °C; 230 °F; 383 K
Related compounds
Related compounds
 Diphenylmethanol
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Diphenylmethane is an organic compound with the formula (C6H5)2CH2 (often abbreviated CH2Ph2). The compound consists of methane wherein two hydrogen atoms are replaced by two phenyl groups. It is a white solid.

Diphenylmethane is a common skeleton in organic chemistry. The diphenylmethyl group is also known as benzhydryl.

Synthesis

It is prepared by the Friedel–Crafts alkylation of benzyl chloride with benzene in the presence of a Lewis acid such as aluminium chloride:

C6H5CH2Cl + C6H6 → (C6H5)2CH2 + HCl

Reactivity of the C-H bond

The methylene group in diphenylmethane is mildly acidic with a pKa of 32.2, and so can be deprotonated with sodium amide.

(C6H5)2CH2 + NaNH−2 → (C6H5)2CHNa + NH3

The resulting carbanion can be alkylated. For example, treatment with n-bromobutane produces 1,1-diphenylpentane in 92% yield.

(C6H5)2CH− + CH3CH2CH2CH2Br → (C6H5)2CHCH2CH2CH2CH3 + Br−

Alkylation of various benzhydryl compounds has been demonstrated using the corresponding alkyl halides, both primary (benzyl chloride, β-phenylethyl chloride, and n-octyl bromide) and secondary (benzhydryl chloride, α-phenylethyl chloride, and isopropyl chloride), in yields between 86 and 99%.

The acidity of the methylene group in diphenylmethane is due to the weakness of the (C6H5)2CH−H, which has a bond dissociation energy (BDE) of 340 kJ/mol (82 kcal/mol). This is well below the published bond dissociation energies for comparable C−H bonds in propane, where the BDE of (CH3)2CH−H is 413 kJ/mol (98.6 kcal/mol), and toluene, where the BDE of (C6H4)CH2−H is 375 kJ/mol (89.7 kcal/mol).

See also

References

  1. ↑ International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (2014). Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry: IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred Names 2013. The Royal Society of Chemistry. p. 452. doi:10.1039/9781849733069. ISBN 978-0-85404-182-4.
  2. ↑ Hartman, W.W.; Phillips, R. (1934). "Diphenylmethane". Organic Syntheses. 14: 34. doi:10.15227/orgsyn.014.0034; Collected Volumes, vol. 2, 1943, p. 232.
  3. 1 2 Hauser, Charles R.; Hamrick, Phillip J. (1957). "Alkylation of Diphenylmethane with Alkyl Halides by Sodium Amide. Substitution versus β-Elimination. Relative Acidities of Diphenylmethane and Ammonia". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 79 (12): 3142–3145. doi:10.1021/ja01569a041.
  4. 1 2 Murphy, William S.; Hamrick, Phillip J.; Hauser, Charles R. (1968). "1,1-Diphenylpentane". Organic Syntheses. 48: 80. doi:10.15227/orgsyn.048.0080; Collected Volumes, vol. 5, 1973, p. 523.
  5. ↑ Zhang, Xian-Man; Bordwell, Frederick G. (1992). "Homolytic bond dissociation energies of the benzylic carbon-hydrogen bonds in radical anions and radical cations derived from fluorenes, triphenylmethanes, and related compounds". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 114 (25): 9787–9792. doi:10.1021/ja00051a010.
  6. ↑ Blanksby, S. J.; Ellison, G. B. (2003). "Bond Dissociation Energies of Organic Molecules". Accounts of Chemical Research. 36 (4): 255–263. doi:10.1021/ar020230d. PMID 12693923.
  7. ↑ Streitwieser, Andrew; Bergman, Robert G. (2018). "Table of Bond Dissociation Energies". University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved December 30, 2021.