Abstract
The liquid phase ammonolysis of hydroxyphenyl compounds with aqueous ammonia was carried out in the presence of metal salts catalysts. As an effective homogeneous catalyst system, NH4Cl-CoCl2 was found for the temperature range of 230°to 330°and the reaction time of 3 to 5 hr. Under these conditions, aniline, toluidines, xylidines, aminophenols, phenylenediamines, and naphthylamines were obtained selectively with an excellent yield from phenol, cresols, xylenols, dihydroxybenzenes, and naphthols, respectively. In contrast with the vapor-phase ammonolysis already known, this newly proposed reaction system can suppress the isomerization and decomposition of cresols and xylenols. The synthetic route for aromatic amines, in which preliminary nitration is difficult, was reduced by using this catalytic system.
