tert-Butyl hypochlorite is the organic compound with the formula (CH3)3COCl. A yellow liquid, it is a rare example of an organic hypochlorite, i.e. a compound with an O-Cl bond. It is a reactive material that is useful for chlorinations. It can be viewed as a lipophilic version of sodium hypochlorite (bleach).
Synthesis and reactions
It is produced by chlorination of tert-butyl alcohol in the presence of base:
- (CH3)3COH Cl2 NaOH → (CH3)3COCl NaCl H2O
tert-Butyl hypochlorite is useful in the preparation of organic chloramines:
- R2NH t-BuOCl → R2NCl t-BuOH
References
