• Clean Technology
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.325-328
• /
• 2011

Atom-efficient preparation of 9, 9'-bis[4-(2'-hydroxy-3'-acryloyloxypropoxy) phenyl]fluorene (3), the extensively used building block for fluorene-containing acrylic epoxy polymers has been described. The epoxide ring opening esterification of 9, 9-bis[4-(glycidyloxy)phenyl]fluorene (1) with acrylic acid was catalyzed by some onium salts such as quaternary ammonium and phosphonium salts. While the coupling reactions depend greatly on the kind of the onium salts, the reaction of 9, 9-bis[4-(glycidyloxy)phenyl]fluorene (1) with acrylic acid proceed most efficiently in the presence of a catalytic amount of tetrabutylphosphonium bromide at $110^{\circ}C$ with 90% yield. This reaction is a cleaner reaction that minimizes the use of reactants and the production of chemical wastes.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.325-328
• /
• 2012

The condensation reaction of 9,9'-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)fluorene with epichlorohydrin to prepare 9,9'-bis[4(glycidyloxy) phenyl]fluorene (2), an important building block for fluorene-containing epoxy polymers, has been studied. The reaction is found to be quite sensitive to several experimental conditions such as reaction temperature and time, added amount of epichlorohydrin, the presence of catalysts and the use of co-solvent. Several conditions for obtaining the best yield in the reaction are: the reaction temperature is below 373 K and the reaction time is shorter than 1.5 h, and the ammonium salts act as a catalyst. Also, the use of ternary solvent (toluene, DMSO, water) has been proved to be crucial to maintain the reaction temperature and for an easy purification. Thus, the reaction proceeds in an environment-friendly manner where the use of reactants and the production of chemical wastes is minimized.