RESEARCHES ON SYNTHESIS OF SQUALENE FROM FARNESYL BROMIDE AND MECHANISM OF ISOMER FORMATION

Squalene was successfully synthesized from farnesyl bromide with the highly efficient reductive coupling reagent tri-triphenylphosphine cobalt chloride that was freshly prepared in the laboratory. Effects of main reaction conditions such as reaction time to the coupling reaction and the yield of squalene were studied primarily. The results showed that the yield of squalene was achieved at 45.6% under conditions of room temperature, extra 10% of the coupling agent, 4 h and efficient stirring. The product was analyzed by gas chromatography and GC-MS, and the possible formation mechanism and structures of the 6 isomers as well as their sequence in the chromatographic chart were predicted. In addition, the effects of the charging speed of NaBH4 and stirring condition to the reaction preparing the reagent were also studied.