An experiment for the synthetic undergraduate laboratory is described in which zeolite 5A catalyzes the room temperature dehydration of diphenylmethanol, (C6H5)2CHOH, producing 1,1,1′,1′-tetraphenyldimethyl ether, (C6H5)2CHOCH(C6H5)2. The reaction proceeds in good yield and purity, and the product is readily characterized by the conventional spectroscopic methods that are normally available to undergraduate students in synthetic chemistry laboratories.
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