Abstract: A new synthesis of 2,3,4,4'-tetrahydroxybenzophenone by boron trifluoride etherate catalysis was proposed in this paper. In the new method, high boiling-point petroleum ether was used as the reaction solvent to replace the poisonous and expensive 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane. Although p-hydroxybenzoic acid, pyrogallic acid, boron trifluoride and petroleum ether were immiscible at room temperature, the reaction system could be gradually turned into brown oily solution in the heating and rapid mixing conditions. After a period of time, a large amount of yellow crystalline products were precipitated. According to the results of orthogonal experiments, the optimum reaction conditions were as follows:pyrogallic acid 0.05 mol, p-hydroxybenzoic acid 0.055 mol, catalyst 0.16 mol (20 mL), reaction temperature 110℃ and reaction time 1 h. Under this condition, the yield reached 83.24% and product purity 97.83%. The new method possessed many advantages, e.g., low toxicity, low cost, short reaction time, easy operation and the recycled catalyst. The product with 99.53% purity by recrystallization in water was identified as 2,3,4,4'-tetrahydroxybenzophenone by the combination of IR, NMR and EI-MS techniques.

Key words: pyrogallic acid, 2,3,4,4’-tetrahydroxybenzophenone, petroleum ether, boron trifluoride