2,2-Dichlorination of Aldehydes with the 2,6-Lutidine·HCl/Cl2/CH2Cl2 System: an Environmentally Benign Process Suitable for Scale Up

An effective and environmentally benign preparation of 2,2-dichloroaldehydes has been achieved by chlorination of aldehydes with Cl2(g) in CH2Cl2, using 2,6-lutidine hydrochloride as recoverable catalyst. Remarkable qualities of the process are: easy work up, high purity products, HCl as the only ‘waste’ stream and inherent bias to the scale up.