The kinetics of dichlorocarbene addition to allyl phenyl ether have been studied under phase-transfer catalytic conditions using aqueous sodium hydroxide as the base and benzyltriethylammonium bromide as a phase-transfer catalyst. The reaction was carried out at 35 degrees C under pseudo-first-order conditions by keeping aqueous sodium hydroxide and chloroform in excess and was monitored by GC. The effect of various experimental parameters on the rate of the reaction has been studied and based on the results obtained, a suitable mechanism is proposed. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.