Chemical Properties
colorless or light brown powder. soluble in nonpolar organic solvents and not in water. Triphenylmethane is the basic skeleton of many synthetic dyes called triarylmethane dyes, many of them are pH indicators, and some display fluorescence. A trityl group in organic chemistry is a triphenylmethyl group Ph3C, e.g. triphenylmethyl chloride (trityl chloride) and the triphenylmethyl radical (trityl radical).
Uses
Triphenylmethane is a triarylmethane compound used as the backbone of synthetic dyes. Triphenylmethane has also been shown to inhibit 3-methylcholanthrene-induced neoplastic transformation of 10T1/2 cells.
Definition
ChEBI: Triphenylmethane is a triarylmethane in which the three aryl groups are phenyl. It forms the basic skeleton of several synthetic dyes. It has a role as a xenobiotic and an environmental contaminant.
Preparation
Triphenylmethane can be synthesized by Friedel–Crafts reaction from benzene and chloroform with aluminium chloride catalyst:
3 C6H6 + CHCl3 → Ph3CH + 3 HCl
Purification Methods
Crystallise triphenylmethane from EtOH or *benzene (with one molecule of *benzene of crystallisation which is lost on exposure to air or by heating on a water bath). It can also be sublimed under vacuum. It has been given a preliminary purification by refluxing with tin and glacial acetic acid, then filtered hot through a glass sinter disc, and precipitated by addition of cold water. [Beilstein 5 H 698, 5 IV 2495.]
