4-Chlorodiphenyl ether

Chemical Properties

colorless to light yellow liquid

Uses

4-Chlorodiphenyl ether can be used in the preparation of 4′-chloro-2,2′,3,3′,4,5,5′,6,6′-nonabromodiphenyl ether (Cl-BDE-208), an internal standard used in the analysis of highly brominated diphenyl ethers.

Uses

4-Chlorodiphenyl Ether is a standard for environmental testing and research. Biodegradability studies with organic priority pollutant compounds.

Synthesis Reference(s)

The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 57, p. 391, 1992 DOI: 10.1021/jo00027a071

General Description

Liquid. Density 1.193 g / cm3. Insoluble or slightly soluble in water.

Air & Water Reactions

Insoluble or slightly soluble in water.

Reactivity Profile

4-Chlorodiphenyl ether oxidizes readily in air to form unstable peroxides that may explode spontaneously [Bretherick, 1979 p.151-154, 164].

Fire Hazard

Combustible.

Environmental Fate

Biological. 4-Chlorophenyl phenyl ether (5 and 10 mg/L) did not significantly biodegrade following incubation in settled domestic wastewater inoculum at 25 °C. Percent losses reached a maximum after 2–3 wk but decreased thereafter suggesting a deadaptive process was occurring (Tabak et al., 1981). In activated sludge, a half-life of 4.0 h was measured (Branson, 1978).
Photolytic. In a methanolic solution irradiated with UV light (λ >290 nm), dechlorination of 4- chlorophenyl phenyl ether resulted in the formation of diphenyl ether (Choudhry et al., 1977). Photolysis of an aqueous solution containing 10% acetonitrile with UV light (λ = 230–400 nm) yielded 4-hydroxybiphenyl ether and chloride ion (Dulin et al., 1986).
At influent concentrations of 1.0, 0.1, 0.01, and 0.001 mg/L, the GAC adsorption capacities were 111, 61, 33, and 18 mg/g, respectively (Dobbs and Cohen, 1980).