Mitsui Petrochemical Industries, Ltd.

Hirohiko Nambu

Isao Hashimoto

Hiroaki Nakagawa

Fujihisa Matsunaga

Kenichi Mizuno

Toru Taguchi

Norio Ohno

Hiroshi Iwasaki

Ichiro Imai

Tadateru Murakami

Masayasu Isibasi

Kazuhiro Watari

Katsuhiko Hashimoto

Yutaka Matsuoka

Tetuhiro Matumoto

Mitsutoshi Moriyama

A process for recovery of resorcinol from an aqueous resorcinol solution containing hydroquinone which comprises oxidizing an aqueous resorcinol solution containing about 10 to about 60% by weight of resorcinol and up to about 1% by weight of hydroquinone with molecular oxygen at conditions of pH 6.5 to 9.5, followed by recovering resorcinol from the resultant oxidation product.

Process for recovery of resorcinol from aqueous resorcinol solution

Disclosed is a process for the preparation of phenols which comprises reacting an .alpha.-hydroxyalkyl-substituted aromatic compound and/or an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated alkyl-substituted aromatic compound with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of an acid catalyst, in which hydrogen peroxide is diluted with a diluent, especially acetone, so that the volume is at least 10 times the original volume, and the diluted hydrogen peroxide is supplied in a divided manner to at least two portions of a reaction vessel or the diluted hydrogen peroxide is scattered by sprinkling into the reaction vessel. According to a preferred embodiment, the diluted hydrogen peroxide is continuously supplied to the gas phase in the reaction vessel from a scattering device which is similar to but separate from a scattering device for supplying the starting aromatic compound, particularly, a product formed by oxidizing an isopropyl aromatic compound with molecular oxygen. According to this process, the efficiency of utilization of hydrogen peroxide is increased and a phenol of high quality can be obtained in a high yield with a high safety.

Process and apparatus for preparation of phenols

A compound of the formula (I) ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.5 each represents an alkyl group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms; R.sup.2, R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 each represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms and wherein the bonding at the 2-3 position is a single bond and that at the 3-4 position is a double when the substitution of hydroxy group is at the 5-position or the bonding at the 2-3 position is a double bond and that at the 3-4 position is a single bond when the substitution of hydroxy group is at the 7-position; with the proviso that R.sup.2 and R.sup.4 should not be a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group simultaneously and process for preparing same are disclosed. The compound is useful as a herbicide and fungicide and as an intermediate for preparing agricultural chemicals, etc.

Polyalkylhydroxychromene and process for preparing the same

In a process for producing an aromatic alcohol by catalytic hydrogenation of at least one tertiary peroxide selected from the group consisting of tertiary aromatic hydroperoxides and tertiary aromatic peroxides in the presence of a palladium catalyst in a lower aliphatic alcohol solvent to form the corresponding alcohol; the improvement wherein said catalyst has a palladium metal surface area, determined by the CO chemisorption method, of up to about 200 m.sup.2 /g.multidot.Pd.

Process for production of aromatic alcohols

In a method for recovering resorcinol by thermally cracking high-boiling by-products formed by the acid-cleavage of m-diisopropylbenzene dihydroperoxide in the presence of at least one ammonium compound selected from the group consisting of ammonium sulfate and ammonium bisulfate at a temperature of about 170.degree. C. to about 350.degree. C. under reduced pressure, the improvement wherein said thermal cracking is carried out at a pressure of less than 50 mmHg gauge in the absence of any inert gas supplied.

Method for recovering resorcinol

In the process for obtaining a concentrate of resorcin by acid-decomposing m-diisopropylbenzene hydroperoxide in an inert solvent in the presence of an acidic solid catalyst and distilling off acetone and the inert solvent from the resulting acid-decomposition reaction mixture, if water is added to this reaction mixture in an amount of 20 to 70% by weight based on resorcin and the reaction mixture is then subjected to distillation, resorcin can be obtained at a high recovery yield.

Process for recovery of resorcin

Disclosed is a process for the preparation of phenols which comprises the steps of (I) decomposing a hydroperoxide of an isopropyl aromatic compound with an acid catalyst, (II) separating the decomposition product obtained in step (I) into acetone, phenols, hydrocarbons and distillation residue by distillation of the decomposition product and (III) thermally decomposing the distillation residue and recycling the resulting crude phenol to step (II), wherein the crude phenol obtained in step (III) is contacted with a glycol to form a hydrocarbon layer and an extract layer comprising the glycol and phenol, and the phenol in said extract layer is recycled to step (II). According to this process, mingling of impurity components having a boiling point close to that of the desired phenol, which are contained in the thermal decomposition product of the distillation residue, into the product phenol can be effectively prevented, and the desired phenol can be obtained at a high purity and at a high recovery yield.

Process for preparation of phenols

A process for the preparation of peroxides by condensation reaction of a tertiary organic hydroperoxide with a tertiary alcohol, which is characterized in that zinc chloride is present as a catalyst in an amount of at least 1% by weight based on the tertiary alcohol, is disclosed. This process can be advantageously applied to continuous manufacture of peroxides, and according to this process, peroxides can be obtained in high yields.

Process for preparation of peroxides

A liquid peroxide composition comprising dicumyl peroxide and a dicumyl peroxide derivative having one nucleus substituted by an alkyl group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms is disclosed. This peroxide composition can easily be handled because it is liquid, and it is very valuable as a cross-linking agent for an olefin polymer or a synthetic rubber.

Liquid peroxide composition

In a process for purification of crude resorcinol derived from an acid-cleavage product of m-diisopropylbenzene dihydroperoxide and containing impurities having higher boiling points than resorcinol is, the recrystallization of said crude resorcinol from a mixed solvent consisting of

Process for purification of crude resorcinol

A process for producing m-diisopropylbenzene dihydroperoxide which comprises oxidizing m-diisopropylbenzene in the liquid phase with molecular oxygen under alkaline conditions; wherein the oxidation is carried out under conditions (A), (B) and (C) below,

Process for liquid-phase oxidation of m-diisopropylbenzene

A method for recovering resorcinol by thermally cracking high-boiling by-products contained in the acid-cleavage product of m-diisopropylbenzene dihydroperoxide, wherein the thermal cracking is effected in the presence of an aromatic ketone of the formula ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 represents a member selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, saturated alkyl groups having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, hydroxyl, acetyl and chlorine, R.sup.2 represents a member selected from the group consisting of saturated alkyl groups having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, cyclohexyl and phenyl, and n represents 1, 2 or 3, and when there are two or more R.sup.1 groups, they are identical or different.

A process for producing phenols which comprises oxidizing an aromatic hydrocarbon ring-substituted by an isopropyl group in one step in the liquid phase using molecular oxygen or a gas containing molecular oxygen in the presence or absence of a solvent, wherein the oxidation is carried out in the presence of an aromatic mercaptan having an acid dissociation constant (pKa) of less than 7.8.

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Iwakuni, Japan

Hirohiko Nambu