Phase transfer catalysis in the chemistry of aliphatic nitrocompounds

The methylation of trinitromethane (TNM) Na-salt under phase transfer catalysis (PTC) conditions was studied in a two-phase system (aqueous solution of TNM Na-salt-CH₃I). The obtained data revealed a relationship between the yield of the methylation product (1,1,1-trinitroethane) and the nature of the phase transfer catalyst and the degree of TNM anion transfer to the organic phase. The kinetic measurements showed that higher efficiency of methylation was achieved under PTC conditions than occurs in a homogeneous reaction due to the fact that the reaction proceeded in the CH₃I medium.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1086–1088, June, 1993.