Solid-liquid reactions catalyzed by alumina and ion exchange resin: reactions of benzyl chloride/p-chlorobenzyl chloride with solid sodium sulfide

Basic aluminum oxide and Amberlyst A27 (Cl<SUP>-</SUP> form) ion exchange resin, in their original form, were used to catalyze the solid-liquid reactions of benzyl chloride/p-chlorobenzyl chloride with sodium sulfide. At a 5% loading of the catalysts, enhancement factors of 14 and 25 were obtained for the benzyl chloride reaction with alumina and Amberlyst A27, respectively. Alumina was also used as a cocatalyst with tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) as a homogeneous-phase-transfer catalyst. Enhancement factors as high as 1.9 &#215; 10<SUP>3</SUP> and 4.9 &#215; 10<SUP>2</SUP> were obtained with benzyl chloride and p-chlorobenzyl chloride, respectively, as organic substrates at a 0.4% loading of TBAB and 5% loading of alumina. Ultrasound was also found to intensify the reaction