Atlantic Richfield Company

Rudolph Rosenthal

John G Zajacek

Edward T Shawl

Harold A Sorgenti

Giovanni A Bonetti

A process for the recovery of selenium from a urethane solution containing selenium compounds which comprises contacting the selenium-containing urethane solution at a suitable temperature with copper (I) chloride, oxygen or an oxygen-containing gas such as air, and a complexing solvent such as an amine or nitrile to form an insoluble precipitate of copper-selenium compounds or complexes. The selenium and copper may be recovered from the resulting precipitate in a form suitable for reuse in the preparation of urethanes and selenium removal respectively.

Process for the removal of selenium compounds from urethane solutions

Method for the production of isocyanates from esters of carbamic acids, (urethanes) by thermally decomposing the ester of the carbamic acid while said ester is dissolved in a suitable inert solvent to produce the isocyanate and alcohol and separately recovering the isocyanate and alcohol.

Production of isocyanates from esters of carbamic acids (urethanes)

Cyclohexene is converted to 3,6-diacyloxycyclohexene by reaction with a C.sub.2 to C.sub.6 aliphatic acyclic saturated carboxylic acid and an organic hydroperoxide in the presence of a copper catalyst. The diacyloxycyclohexene is hydrolyzed to the corresponding dihydroxycyclohexene and dehydrogenated to hydroquinone. For example, with acetic acid the cyclohexene is converted to the 3,6-diacetoxycyclohexene which after hydrolysis and dehydrogenation gives hydroquinone.

Synthesis of hydroquinone

A method for the production of isocyanic acid esters (isocyanates) from substituted ureas by thermally decomposing the substituted urea at elevated temperatures while said urea is dissolved in a suitable inert solvent and in the presence of an inert carrier agent to produce the isocyanate and/or amine as overhead products in the vapor phase minimizing the recombination of the isocyanate and the amine and separately recovering the isocyanate and amine.

Production of isocyanates from substituted ureas

Diperoxides, useful as free radical type polymerization initiators, for example, are preparable from an organic hydroperoxide such as t-butyl hydroperoxide, and a ketone using catalyst comprising molybdenum or vanadium.

Process for preparing diperoxide from an organic hydro-peroxide and a

Compounds of the formula ##EQU1## WHEREIN R is a hydrocarbyl radical selected from the group consisting of alkyl, aralkyl and cycloalkyl having from 3 to 12 carbon atoms and n is an integer from 1 to 9 are prepared by reacting a 1,1-bis (hydrocarbyl peroxy) cycloalkane with cycloaliphatic ketones in the presence of a molybdenum containing catalyst. The 1,1-bis (hydrocarbyl peroxy) cycloalkane can be prepared in situ from an organic hydroperoxide and a cycloalkanone. The compounds have utility as solvents and certain specific members of the class have utility as intermediates to adipic acid by further oxidation or as an intermediate to 2-t-butoxyphenol by known dehydrogenation methods.

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Broomall, PA, United States of America

Rudolph Rosenthal