Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) that is present in many by-product gas stream in petroleum refinery and natural gas industries, has been used successfully to produce fine chemicals like aromatic thioethers in a bi-phasic reaction system using phase transfer catalyst. H2S is first absorbed in aquous ammonia (NH3) to produce aqueous ammonia solution which is being used as a sulfiding agent to produce dibenzyl thioether with 99% selectivity from benzyl chloride. Tetra-n-butylammonium chloride has been found to be most active catalyst among many soluble quats in enhancing the rate of reaction and increasing the selectivity of dibenzyl thioethers. The reaction has been carried out in batch mode within a temperature range 303 � 333K in absence of any solvent. Kinetic studies have been done to check the effect of different parameters on conversion and selectivity. This process can be used as an alternative to conventional Claus process.

Selective synthesis of dibenzyl thioether under solvent free condition using hydrogen sulfide

243rd National Meeting (2012)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.