Synthesis of exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene by catalytic isomerization

Preparation of exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene by isomerization of endo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene over AlCl_3 catalyst was studied.The effects of solvents,catalyst loadings,solvent amount and reaction time were investigated.The optimum operation conditions were obtained as follows:n(CH_2Cl_2)∶n(endo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene)=0.8;catalyst loading=20%;reaction time=3 h.Conversion of 97.12% and selectivity of 99.28% were attained under the optimum conditions.