Triphenylmethane

Triphenylmethane, or triphenyl methane, is the hydrocarbon with the formula (C6H5)3CH. This colorless solid is soluble in nonpolar organic solvents and not in water. Triphenylmethane is the basic skeleton of many synthetic dyes called triarylmethane dyes, many of them are pH indicators, and some display fluorescence. A trityl group in organic chemistry is a triphenylmethyl group Ph3C, e.g. triphenylmethyl chloride (trityl chloride) and the triphenylmethyl radical (trityl radical).

Triphenylmethane
Names
Preferred IUPAC name
1,1′,1′′-Methanetriyltribenzene
Other names
Triphenylmethane
1,1′,1′′-Methylidynetrisbenzene
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChEBI
ChemSpider
ECHA InfoCard 100.007.524
EC Number
  • 208-275-0
UNII
Properties
C19H16
Molar mass 244.337 g·mol−1
Appearance Colorless solid
Density 1.014 g/cm3
Melting point 92 to 94 °C (198 to 201 °F; 365 to 367 K)
Boiling point 359 °C (678 °F; 632 K)
insoluble
Solubility soluble in dioxane[1] and hexane
Acidity (pKa) 33.3
-165.6·10−6 cm3/mol
Hazards
Safety data sheet External MSDS
R-phrases (outdated) R36 R37 R38
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
N verify (what is YN ?)
Infobox references

Preparation

Triphenylmethane was first synthesized in 1872 by the German chemist August Kekulé and his Belgian student Antoine Paul Nicolas Franchimont (1844–1919) by heating diphenylmercury (Hg(C6H5)2, Quecksilberdiphenyl) with benzal chloride (C6H5CHCl2, Benzylenchlorid).[2]

Triphenylmethane can be synthesized by Friedel-Crafts reaction from benzene and chloroform with aluminium chloride catalyst:

3 C6H6 + CHCl3 → Ph3CH + 3 HCl

Alternatively, benzene may react with carbon tetrachloride using the same catalyst to obtain the trityl chloride-aluminium chloride adduct, which is hydrolyzed with dilute acid:[3]

3 C6H6 + CCl4 + AlCl3 → Ph3CCl·AlCl3
Ph3CCl·AlCl3 + HCl → Ph3CH

Synthesis from benzylidene chloride, prepared from benzaldehyde and phosphorus pentachloride, is used as well.

Acidity

The pKa of the hydrogen on the central carbon is 33.3.[4] Triphenylmethane is significantly more acidic than most other hydrocarbons because the charge is delocalized over three phenyl rings. Steric effects however prevent all three phenyl rings from achieving coplanarity simultaneously. This makes it less acidic then diphenylmethane, because in its anion the charge is spread over two phenyl rings at the same time.


The trityl anion is red. This colour can be used as an indicator in acid-base titrations or to quantify the water content of a sample.

The sodium salt can be prepared also from the chloride:[5]

(C6H5)3CCl + 2 Na → (C6H5)3CNa + NaCl

The use of tritylsodium as a strong, non-nucleophilic base has been eclipsed by the popularization of butyllithium and related strong bases.

Triarylmethane dyes
Main article: Triarylmethane dye

Examples of triarylmethane dyes are bromocresol green:

And the nitrogen-bearing malachite green:

See also

References
  1. "Triphenylmethane | 519-73-3".
  2. Aug. Kekulé and A. Franchimont (1872) "Ueber das Triphenylmethan" (On triphenylmethane), Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft, 5 : 906–908.
  3. J. F. Norris (1941). "Triphenylmethane". Organic Syntheses.; Collective Volume, 1, p. 548
  4. Ronald Breslow and William Chu (1969). "Electrochemical determinations of pKa's. Triphenylmethanes and cycloheptatriene". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 92 (7): 2165. doi:10.1021/ja00710a077.
  5. W. B. Renfrow Jr and C. R. Hauser (1943). "Triphenylmethylsodium". Organic Syntheses.; Collective Volume, 2, p. 607
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