Benzyl phenyl ether

Benzyl phenyl ether is a reactive organic oxygenate, containing ether as functional group, present in subbituminous and bituminous coals. It reacts with aluminium bromide in chlorobenzene solution to afford a mixture of phenol, o-benzyl phenol and dichlorodiphenylmethane. It is a useful as model compound in catalytic chemistry to represent the a-O4 ether bond in lignin and coal. It contains a weak ether bond of 234kJ/mol and belongs to the most thermo-labile compounds in lignin and low rank coal. Influence of alkali carbonates, common additives in biomass conversion, on the reaction pathways of BPE in superheated water has been reported. Cesium-exchanged heteropolyacid catalyzed decomposition of benzyl phenyl ether to aromatics has been investigated. Photo-Claisen rearrangements of benzyl phenyl ether was investigated in cation-exchanged Y zeolites and polyethylenes of differing crystallinities.