25134-01-4

white to off-white powder

ChEBI: 2,6-Dimethylphenol is a hydroxytoluene.

Oxidative coupling is readily accomplished by passing oxygen into a reaction mixture containing 2,6-xylenol, pyridine and cuprous chloride. (The molar ratio of pyridine to cuprous ion is generally in the range 10: 1 to 100: 1.) External heating is unnecessary; during the course of the reaction the temperature rises to about 70??C. The polymer is precipitated with dilute hydrochloric acid and collected by filtration.
It is generally accepted that aryloxy radicals are intermediates in the polymerization reaction since ESR studies have shown the presence of both monomeric and polymeric aryloxy radicals in polymerizing solutions of 2,6- xylenol. The simplest mechanism that can be suggested for the reaction is aromatic substitution: