Diphenylmethane is an organic compound with the formula (C6H5)2CH2 (often abbreviated CH 2Ph 2). The compound consists of methane wherein two hydrogen atoms are replaced by two phenyl groups. It is a white solid.
Diphenylmethane is a common skeleton in organic chemistry. The diphenylmethyl group is also known as benzhydryl.
The acidity of the methylene group in diphenylmethane is due to the weakness of the (C6H5)2CH–H bond, which has a bond dissociation energy of 82 kcal mol−1 (340 kJ mol−1).[5] This is well below the published bond dissociation energies for comparable C–H bonds in propane, where BDE((CH3)2CH–H)=98.6 kcal mol−1, and toluene, where BDE(C6H5CH2–H)=89.7 kcal mol−1.[6][7]
^W. W. Hartman and Ross Phillips (1934). "Diphenylmethane". Organic Syntheses. 14: 34. doi:10.15227/orgsyn.014.0034.
^ abHauser, Charles R.; Hamrick, Phillip J. (1957). "Alkylation of Diphenylmethane with Alkyl Halides by Sodium Amide. Substitution versus β-Elimination. Relative Acidities of Diphenylmethane and Ammonia". J. Am. Chem. Soc.79 (12): 3142–3145. doi:10.1021/ja01569a041.
^Zhang, Xian-Man; Bordwell, Frederick G. (1992). "Homolytic bond dissociation energies of the benzylic carbon-hydrogen bonds in radical anions and radical cations derived from fluorenes, triphenylmethanes, and related compounds". J. Am. Chem. Soc.114 (25): 9787–9792. doi:10.1021/ja00051a010.
