Chemical conversions using sheet silicates: novel intermolecular dehydrations of alcohols to ethers and polymers

Abstract

Aliphatic primary alcohols, when intercalated in certain ion-exchanged montmorillonites, react preferentially via an intermolecular nucleophilic displacement of water to give high yields of di-(alk-1-yl) ethers, rather than the competitive intramolecular dehydration to alkenes; an essentially similar process yields polymeric material, poly(phenylenemethylene), from benzyl alcohol, but aliphatic secondary and tertiary alcohols, in contrast, yield alkenes almost exclusively.