aromatic rings from ketones and aldehydes

[roux]

I was curious if anyone has had any experience making aromatic compounds from any kind of ketone or aldehyde by dehydrating it with sulfuric acid. Is it cheaper than simply buying the kind of aromatic ring needed? Or would it be a waste of time to even bother?

[Marvin]

I feel you are being a bit vague. I've no experience but the only one I know offhand is acetone to mesitylene. This isnt so much a general reaction as something very specific and with sulphuric acid only gets as high as 25% yeild.

If you can get toluene, xylene etc at thinners prices you really wouldnt want to be making them yourself. What specifically did you have in mind?

[organikum]

Benzene from acetylene in a tube furnace at elevated temperatures and with some catalyst. High yielding and very selective as I remember.
But making it from sodium benzoate and NaOH is much easier.

uups. Me stupid, acetylene is of course neither a ketone nor a aldehyde, I apologize.

[VX]

Aromatic compounds can certainly be made from both ketones (actualy di ketones, and di aldehydes). However the compounds made this way are the aromatic heterocycles: pyrrole, furan and thiophene(and there derivitives), not benzene.

The reactions are not too complex, but they do require obscure reagents (especialy thiophene and furan). But it may be worth putting in the time because heterocyclic chemistry is just about the most interesting and rewarding areas synthetic chmistry in my point of view.

[roux]

The whole reason for this post was because I was looking through a chem. text book in my school library. I found that acetone, with a sulfuric acid catylist, will produce 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and water. I figured that similar compounds could be made with other ketones.

I appologize for being so vague.