PRODUCTION OF PHENYL ETHERS

摘要

PURPOSE:To obtain phenyl ethers useful as an industrial intermediate for agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, especially an intermediate for herbicides in high yield even in the case of a compound usually having low production yield owing to its steric hindrance by carrying out a solid-liquid reaction in etherification. CONSTITUTION:A phenyl ether compound of formula IV can be produced by the solid-liquid reaction of (A) a compound of formula I (R1 is an alkyl) with (B) preferably equimolar amount (based on the component A) of a compound of formula II or formula III (R2 is an alkyl or an aralkyl; Hal is a halogen; R2 is a lower alkyl) in the presence of a base (e.g. sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide) and a quaternary ammonium salt. The compound of formula I is obtained by the sulfenylation of a phenol of formula V and the by-produced p-sulfenylphenol and unreacted raw materials can easily be separated by alkali treatment.