Chloral

Chloral, also known as trichloroacetaldehyde, is the organic compound with the formula Cl₃CCHO. This aldehyde is a colourless oily liquid that is soluble in a wide range of solvents. It reacts with water to form chloral hydrate, a once widely used sedative and hypnotic substance.

Production

Chloral can be produced by chlorination of ethanol, as reported in 1832 by Justus von Liebig.

Key reactions

Aside from its tendency to hydrate, chloral is most notable as a building block in the synthesis of DDT. For this purpose, chloral is treated with chlorobenzene in the presence of a catalytic amount of sulfuric acid:

Cl₃CCHO + 2 C₆H₅Cl → Cl₃CCH(C₆H₄Cl)₂ + H₂O

This reaction was described by Othmar Zeidler in 1874.

References