Himont Incorporated

Eric J Evain

Krishna Raman

Disclosed is a process for the preparation of aryl-substituted propionic acid esters having the formula: ##STR1## wherein R and R.sup.1 are a C.sub.1 -C.sub.12 linear or branched alkyl, a C.sub.5 -C.sub.12 cycloalkyl, a C.sub.6 -C.sub.12 aryl or a C.sub.7 -C.sub.12 alkaryl or aralkyl, R.sup.2 is hydrogen or a C.sub.1 -C.sub.20 linear or branched alkyl and R.sup.3 is a C.sub.1 -C.sub.20 linear or branched alkyl, a C.sub.5 -C.sub.12 cycloalkyl, a C.sub.6 -C.sub.12 aryl or a C.sub.7 -C.sub.20 alkaryl or aralkyl, and may be the same or different, or R.sup.1 is hydrogen, which comprises forming a reaction mixture of a phenol, at least one base catalyst and an acrylate, in the presence of 1,2-dimethoxybenzene, wherein the acrylate is added at once or over a period of time from 5 to 60 minutes at atmospheric pressure. The process results in excellent yields of the desired product with good rates of conversion.

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New Castle County, DE, United States of America

Eric J Evain