Editing Mesitylene (section)

==Preparation==
Mesitylene is prepared by [[transalkylation]] of [[xylene]] over solid [[acid catalyst]]:<ref name=Ullmanns>Karl Griesbaum, Arno Behr, Dieter Biedenkapp, Heinz-Werner Voges, Dorothea Garbe, Christian Paetz, Gerd Collin, Dieter Mayer, Hartmut Höke “Hydrocarbons” in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2002 Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. {{doi|10.1002/14356007.a13_227}}.</ref>
:2&nbsp;[[xylene|C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>4</sub>(CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>]]&nbsp;⇌&nbsp;C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>3</sub>(CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub>&nbsp;+&nbsp;[[toluene|C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>5</sub>CH<sub>3</sub>]]
:C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>4</sub>(CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>&nbsp;+&nbsp;CH<sub>3</sub>OH&nbsp;→&nbsp;C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>3</sub>(CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub>&nbsp;+&nbsp;H<sub>2</sub>O

Although impractical, it could be prepared by trimerization of [[propyne]], also requiring an [[acid catalyst]], which yields a mixture of 1,3,5- and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzenes.

[[Trimerization]] of [[acetone]] via [[aldol condensation]], which is catalyzed and [[dehydration|dehydrated]] by [[sulfuric acid]] is another method of synthesizing mesitylene.<ref>{{cite book
|last=  Cumming
|first= W. M.
|date= 1937
|title= Systematic organic chemistry (3E)
|url= http://www.prepchem.com/synthesis-of-mesitylene/
|location= New York, USA
|publisher= D. Van Nostrand Company
|page=57
}}</ref>