The kinetics of dichlorocarbene addition to styrene was studied under phase-transfer catalytic conditions using aqueous sodium hydroxide as the base and triethylbenzyl ammonium chloride as the phase-transfer catalyst. The reaction was carried out at 40°C under pseudo first-order condition by keeping aqueous sodium hydroxide and chloroform in excess. The fiogress of the reaction was monitored by gas chromatography. The effects of various experimental conditions on the rate of the reaction were studied and based on the results obtained a suitable mechanism has been proposed.
