Liquid–liquid phase transfer catalysis (LLPTC) plays an ever-increasing role in academic research and in the large scale industrial production of chemicals. This method involves a biphasic medium composed of water and an organic solvent in which the LLPT-catalyst plays a critical role in the transport of some water-soluble reagents (e.g., nucleophiles or bases) from water into the organic layer. This article provides a list of easy to perform and relatively safe experiments that may be used to demonstrate the extraction of some colorful water-soluble reagents by Aliquat 336 into ether. This demonstrative process serves to simulate the preliminary extractive step of an ionic species in LLPT-catalyzed reactions and introduce various undergraduate chemistry concepts and principles to students.

Summary Anthraquinone and its derivatives have been found to be effective catalysts for the isomerization of drying and semi‐drying oils to conjugated forms. A possible mechanism to account for the catalytic activity of these materials has been proposed. Possible commerical application of the isomerization of oils with anthraquinone was briefly discussed.