B. Smeets, R. Meijer, J. Meuldijk
2003
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0
Influential Citations
11
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Journal
Organic Process Research & Development
Abstract
The objective of this study was the design of a scaleable process for the synthesis of 3−4 mol of α-terthienyl from 2,5-dibromothiophene and thienylmagnesium bromide in a 10-L stirred tank reactor. In THF the Grignard reagent, thienylmagnesium bromide, was readily formed from 2-bromothiophene and magnesium. To avoid crystallization the maximal concentration was limited to 1.4 M. Furthermore, the novel combination of THF and NiCl2[bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene] allows for fast double coupling of the Grignard reagent with 2,5-dibromothiophene. The concentration of catalyst could be limited to 0.5 mol % based on the amount of 2,5-dibromothiophene. An adapted workup procedure was developed, in which n-octane was used to separate the magnesium salts from the desired product. The reaction was performed in a (semi)batch-wise operated reactor. A global model for the coupling step proved to predict the results at 0.1-, 1-, and 10-L scales very accurately. The heat of reaction evolved in the coupling step was valor...