Chemical Properties
Tan or light crystalline
Uses
PBDE 15 is a polybrominated di-Ph ether (PBDE), which is a flame retardant often incorporated into many polymers. PBDEs are an environmental pollutant that exhibit potential health risks to humans and wildlife.
Safety Profile
Poison by intraperitoneal route. When heated todecomposition it emits toxic fumes of Br-.
Synthesis
The general procedure for the synthesis of 4,4'-dibromodiphenyl ether from diphenyl ether was as follows: in a four-necked round-bottomed flask fitted with a stirrer, condenser, dropping funnel and thermometer, diphenyl ether (170 g, 1.0 mol), 1,2-dichloroethane (EDC) (300 ml), water (200 ml) and NaBrO3 (55 g, 0.36 mol) were added. Bromine (176 g, 1.1 mol) was slowly added dropwise to the stirred mixture for 1 h at 25 °C. No significant HBr gas was released during the reaction. The reaction progress was monitored by gas chromatography (GC). After two hours of reaction, the diphenyl ether was completely converted to 4,4'-dibromodiphenyl ether. The reaction was stopped and the phases were separated to give the crude product 4,4'-dibromodiphenyl ether (324.8 g) in 99% yield and 99.5% selectivity.
References
[1] Patent: EP429975, 1991, A1
[2] Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 2018, vol. 57, # 20, p. 5938 - 5942
[3] Angew. Chem., 2018, vol. 130, p. 6044 - 6049,6
[4] Monatshefte fuer Chemie, 1992, vol. 123, # 12, p. 1153 - 1162
