THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL-ANALYSIS OF CAPSULE MEMBRANE PHASE-TRANSFER CATALYSIS - SELECTIVE ALKALINE-HYDROLYSIS OF BENZYL-CHLORIDE TO BENZYL ALCOHOL

intensification of and selectivity in multiphase reactions catalysed b y phase transfer catalysts can be greatly improved by the use of the s o-called capsule membrane-PTC (CM-PTC) technique in comparison with th e L-L PTC. We report here the theoretical and experimental analysis of the CM-PTC and inverse CM-PTC for exclusively selective formation of benzyl alcohol from the alkaline hydrolysis of benzyl chloride. The th eoretical analysis shows that it is possible to simultaneously measure the rate constant and equilibrium constant under certain conditions. The effects of speed of agitation, catalyst concentration, substrate c oncentration, nature of catalyst cation, membrane structure, nucleophi le concentration, surface area for mass transfer and temperature on th e rate of reaction are discussed.