Abstract Selective dehydrobromination of 1, 2-dibromo-1-phenylethane to α-bromostyrene was effected under conditions of phase-transfer catalysis in systems containing KOH, toluene, and tetraalkylammonium bromides. The high selectivity of the catalytic systems originates from stabilization by lipophilic cation of the phase-transfer catalyst of a E1cb-like transition state in the E2 mechanism. In the presence of a catalytic amount of lipophilic ...
