| abstract |
A efficient photochemical method for the preparation of an alcohol compound, e.g., benzyl alcohol, from a non-olefin hydrocarbon compound, e.g., benzene, was proposed in which a mixture of the non-olefin hydrocarbon compound as the starting material and a hydrogen donor compound, which is a cycloalkane of 5 to 16 carbon atoms in a molecule, e.g., cyclooctane, or an aliphatic alcohol of up to 10 carbon atoms in a molecule, e.g., isopropyl alcohol, is irradiated with light under an atmosphere of carbon monoxide in the presence of a complex compound of rhodium or iridium, of which at least one of the ligands is preferably a monophosphine or bisphosphine compound. The method is advantageous in that the reaction can proceed under mild reaction conditions and that the amount of the aldehyde compound formed in the reaction mixture as a by-product is very small as compared with conventional methods so as to greatly facilitate isolation of the desired alcohol product from the reaction mixture. |