The Reaction of Diethanolamine with 2-Chloronitrobenzene-A Reinvestigation

Abstract

In a report on the reaction of 2-chloronitrobenzene (1) with diethanolamine (2), Meltsner et al ¹ claim that the expected S_NAr product, N-(2-nitrophenyl)diethanolamine (3), is not formed; rather that the products are 2,2′-dichloroazobenzene (4), 2-nitrophenol (5), 2-chloroaniline (6) and 4-(2-aminophenyl)morpholine (7). Similar products in which the nitro function is reduced are also reported² for the corresponding reaction with ethanolamine. In this laboratory, in an attempted preparation of 2,2′-dichloroazobenzene (4) for reference purposes in photochemical studies on the antineoplastic agent 5-(3-azido-4-chlorophenyl)-6-ethyl-pyrimidin-2,4-diamine³, the expected S_NAr product (3) was obtained along with other products.