PROCESS FOR PREPARING ARYL-ETHYL PHENOLS HAVING ONE OR MORE ALKYL SUBSTITUENTS IN THE ETHYL GROUP AND THEIR USE

Abstract: A subject-matter of the invention is a process for alkylation of phenols comprising reacting a phenol with a vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon substituted in the vinyl group in the presence of an acid catalyst in an aqueous solution, of an organic solvent and of an inhibitor of polymerization. Moreover a subject-matter of the invention is the use of the reaction product obtained by this process, wherein the starting phenol is hydroquinone and the starting vinyl-­ aromatic hydrocarbon is alpha-methyl-styrene, for the production of polymers, in particular of thermotropic liquid crystalline polyesters.

Description: The present invention relates to a process for preparing aryl-alkyl phenols and their use. More particularly the present invention relates to a process for preparing aryl-ethyl phenols having one or more alkyl substituents in the ethyl group by alkylating phenols with vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbons having one or more alkyl substituents in the vinyl group, with high yield and selectivity to mono-alkylated product, as well as their use. Alkylation of phenols with olefins in the presence of acid catalysts is a known process, however, it is used little in the industry owing to the low reaction yields. For instance, in U.S. patents 2,832,808 and 2,722,556 there has been described the alkylation of phenols with olefins in the presence of acid catalysts, such as sulphuric acid or phosphoric acid. However, according to these processes, one obtains very low yields, even below 50%, of monoalkylated products or one obtains selectivities to dialkylated products over 90%. In Japanese patent applications 58/140.035 and 59/112.935 the above mentioned drawback proves to be overcome partly; in fact in these applications there has been described the preparation of monoalkyl substituted hydroquinone by reaction of hydroquinone with vinyl aromatic hydrocarbons to obtain reaction yields of the order of 90-93%. However, also these processes are not free from drawbacks, as the alkylation, to obtain satisfactory results, has to be carried out either by using the reaction product as solvent or by letting the reaction take place in the presence of a polysubstituted hydroquinone. In U.S. patent 4,661,645 there has been described the synthesis of (1-phenylethyl)hydroquinone starting from styrene and hydroquinone in the presence of a Lewis acid and in a homogeneous phase, by using an alkyl ether as homogenisation solvent. Also in this case the reaction product contains high quantities of di(phenylethyl)hydroquinone, computable in values over 30% by weight with, respect to the mixture of mono- and di-substituted products. According to EP-A-319 310 published on 07.06.89, the drawbacks of the Prior Art can be overcome by a process for alkylation of phenols, in which the reaction is carried out in a heterogeneous phase. In said application a process is described for alkylation of phenols comprising causing a phenol to react with a vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon in the presence of an organic solvent and of a catalyst consisting of an inorganic acid diluted in water. According to the process object of the above mentioned application a yield in mono-alkylated product over 95% and a selectivity to dialkylated products below 5%, with a purity relating to mono- and di-alkylated products over 99,9% can be obtained. However, if for the alkylation use is made of a vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon substituted in the vinyl group with an alkyl radical, such as, for instance, alpha-methyl-styrene, the alkylation yields, calculated on olefin, are low, as said hydrocarbons are very reactive and tend to give oligomers, such as the following ones: From US patents 4,376,678 and 4,474,646 it has been known a method of distilling readily polymerizable vinyl aromatic compounds in the presence of polymerization inhibitors. However, no mention has been made of the use of these vinyl-aromatic compounds for the preparation of aryl-ethyl phenols. Patent application WO 87/05290 is concerned with a method for preparing of (1-phenylethyl) hydroquinone comprising reacting styrene and hydroquinone, in the presence of an organic diluent at a temperature and for a time sufficient to form a crude product having substantial amounts of said (1-phenylethyl) hydroquinone and containing unreacted hydroquinone, vacuum distilling said crude product in the presence of said diluent to obtain a fraction consisting primarily of said (1-phenylethyl) hydroquinone, and wherein said organic diluent co-distills with said unreacted hydroquinone under the conditions of vacuum distillation. In this process no polymerization inhibitor is added to the starting mixture but only in the distillation of (1-phenylethyl) hydroquinone there is present unreacted hydroquinone which anyhow is not a proper polymerization inhibitor. Hence the problem underlying to the invention is to create a process for preparing aryl-ethyl phenols having one or more alkyl substituents in the ethyl group by which these can be obtained in higher yields and selectivity to mono-alkylated product and higher purity as well as the use of the products thus obtained. Surprisingly the above has been achieved by the invention. The Applicant surprisingly now has found that, if use is made for the alkylation of a vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon substituted in the vinyl group, the alkylation yield can be increased considerably, either by addition to the reaction medium, or by causing the formation in situ, of a polymerization inhibitor proving to be efficient also in limiting the formation of the first terms of the polymeric chain, i.e. oligomers, such as dimers, trimers and so on. Hence a subject-matter of the present invention is a process for preparing aryl-ethyl phenols having one or more alkyl substituents in the ethyl group comprising reacting a phenol with a vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon having one or more alkyl substituents in the vinyl group, in the presence of an organic solvent and of a catalyst consisting of an inorganic acid in an aqueous solution, which is characterized in that additionally an inhibitor of polymerization of the vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon is used in the reactant mixture. In view of the said difficulties encountered with the reaction of phenols with vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbons having one or more alkyl-substituents in the vinyl group it is not visible from the US patents 4,376,678 and 4,474,646 that the polymerization inhibitors in the distillation of vinyl aromatic monomers described therein could have a favourable effect on the yields of aryl-alkyl phenols. In the process according to the invention it can be started from phenols with one or more, for example two or three, hydroxy groups, optionally substituted in the aromatic ring, preferably with an alkyl radical having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms, more preferably with 1 to 8 carbon atoms. The aromatic ring can be a simple ring or a condensed ring, preferably a benzene or naphthalene ring; also it can be formed by two rings linked together, preferably diphenyl. Preferred phenols which advantageously can be used as starting materials in the process object of the present invention are hydroquinone, resorcinol, pyrocatechol, pyrogallol, benzophenol, cresols, p-octyl phenol, dihydroxydiphenyl, alpha-naphthol, beta-naphthol and the like; hydroquinone is the particularly preferred starting material. Advantageously the starting vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon having one or more alkyl substituents in the vinyl group is selected among those having the general formula wherein Ar represents an aryl group containing from 6 to 18 carbon atoms, optionally substituted by an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, preferably a methyl group, and R₁, R₂ and R₃ are selected among hydrogen and alkyl radicals having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, with the further proviso that at least one of R₁, R₂ and R₃ means an alkyl radical. Preferably it is started from vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbons in which Ar is a phenyl group. Furthermore it is preferred that the alkyl radicals which may be represented by R₁, R₂ and/or R₃ are such having from 1 to 4, particularly 1 or 2, most particularly 1, carbon atoms. Preferably the alkyl radical by which the aryl group represented by Ar may be substituted is a methyl or ethyl radical, particularly the first one. Preferred vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon starting materials having the above general formula are alpha-methyl styrene, alpha-ethyl styrene, p-methyl-alpha-methyl styrene, beta-methyl styrene and the like. Particularly preferred is alpha-methyl styrene. According to a preferred embodiment of the process object of the present invention, the phenol is reacted in a slight molar excess with respect to the vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon having one or more alkyl substituents in the vinyl group. Molar ratios of phenol/vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon ranging from 0.5 to 5, preferably from 1 to 2, are used with the greatest advantage. The alkylation reaction is carried out in a solvent selected from those having a boiling temperature compatible with the reaction temperature and a good solubility chiefly as to the final product. Aromatic hydrocarbons, such as toluene, xylenes and the like, proved to be advantageous solvents. The solvent can be used in any ratio by weight with respect to the starting phenol, however, there are preferred ratios by weight of solvent/phenol ranging from 0.5 to 10, particularly from 1 to 10, more particularly from 1 to 5, most preferably from 1 to 2.5. Any inorganic acid can be used as catalyst of the alkylation process object of the present invention, however orthophosphoric acid, pyrophosphoric acid and sulphuric acid, diluted in water at 60-90% by weight, particularly at 70-80% by weight, are the preferred ones. Advantageously the catalyst is used with molar ratios with respect to the starting phenol, ranging from 1 to 10, preferably from 3 to 5. Advantageously the following compounds can be used as efficient inhibitors: acetone or its derivatives, such as diacetone alcohol or mesityl oxide, which may be either added or formed in situ or recycled from a preceding operation as well, p-quinone, 2,6-ditert.butyl p-cresol (or BHT), p-nitrophenol, p-aminophenol, nitrobenzene or, although less efficient, inorganic or organic salts, and oxides, for instance of Cu⁺⁺ (such as CuCl₂ CuSO₄, Cu(CH₃COO)₂ and the like). Advantageously the inhibitor is added to the system with molar ratios ranging from 0.01 to 5, preferably from 0.05 to 1, with respect to the vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon having one or more alkyl substituents in the vinyl group. The alkylation reaction of the process object of the present invention is carried out at room pressure and advantageously at a temperature ranging from 90 to 120°C, preferably from 110 to 115°C. When the alkylation reaction is over, the organic phase consisting of the solvent and of the raw product coming from the reaction, can be separated by decantation from the catalytic system and the product is recovered by crystallization from the solvent. The process object of the present invention proved to be very convenient for preparing particular phenols, prevailingly monoalkylated phenols, for instance, (alpha-phenylisopropyl)-hydroquinone, which can be used, on account of their purity degree, as monomers for polymers, in particular thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers; their purity is already very high at the first crystallization, however, they can be further purified easily by crystallization from a mixture of solvents of industrial use (for instance toluene/hexane or xylene/hexane). The limitation of formation of the above mentioned oligomers lowers considerably the manufacturing costs of the monoalkylated product, on account of the yield increase, about 50%, and on account of the simplification and of the lower cost for recovering the product by crystallization, as said oily products act as solvents of the alkylated products. A subject-matter of the invention is also the use of the reaction product obtained by the process according to the invention, wherein the starting phenol is hydroquinone and the starting vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon is alpha-methyl-styrene, for the production of polymers, in particular of thermotropic liquid crystalline polyesters. A few examples will be given hereinafter by way of illustration but not of limitation, in order to better understand the present invention and to carry out the same. Example 1 (comparison example). g 22 (0.2 moles) of hydroquinone, ml 50 of xylene, g 131 of H₃PO₄, as an aqueous solution at 75% by weight, were loaded into a 250 ml glass reactor equipped with a stirrer, thermometer, reflux cooler, dropping funnel and outside heating bath. The mixture was heated to 113°C and alpha-methylstyrene was added in an amount equal to 23.6 g (0.2 moles). After 7 hours at 115°C under stirring the two phases were let stratify, removing the solution of H₃PO₄ and rinsing the xylenic solution with NaHCO₃ in an aqueous solution at 5% by weight and with water. The organic solution was diluted with ml 100 of n-hexane under stirring, one cooled to 20°C to complete the crystallization of (alpha-phenylisopropyl)hydroquinone. One filtered, rinsing with ml 20 of n-hexane. After drying one obtained g 18 of a pulverulent yellowish product containing, by gas-chromatography (GC), 98.8% by weight of (alpha-phenylisopropyl)hydroquinone, equal to 0.078 moles and 0.8% by weight of 2.5-bis(alpha-phenylisopropyl)hydroquinone, equal to 0.0004 moles. By evaporating at constant weight the mother-waters coming from filtration one obtained g 12.8 of a viscous brown product containing 10.2% by weight (GC) of monosubstituted hydroquinone, equal to 0.0057 moles, 1 .5% by weight (GC) of disubstituted hydroquinone, equal to 0.00055 moles and 88.3% (GC) of oligomers of methylstyrene. Total molar yield (alpha-phenylisopropyl)hydroquinone/alpha-methylstyrene = 41 .85%, molar yield of alkylation mono and disubstituted hydroquinone/alpha-methylstyrene = 42.8%. Example 2 (according to the invention) One operated as in example 1, while adding g 2.9 of acetone to xylene. One obtained g 26.4 of a dry crystallized product having a titre (GC) of 98.9% by weight of (alpha-phenylisopropyl)hydroquinone and 1 .05% by weight of 2.5-bis(alpha-phenylisopropyl) hydroquinone; the mother-waters coming from filtration, after having been evaporated at constant weight, gave a residue of g 12.4 having a titre (GC) = 2.9% and 4.1% by weight in mono and disubstituted hydroquinone respectively. Total molar yield (alpha-phenylisopropyl)hydroquinone/alpha-methylstyrene = 58%; molar yield of alkylation = 59.13%. Example 3 (according to the invention) One operated as in example 1, while adding to xylene g 12.4 of residue obtained by evaporation of the mother-waters coming from filtration according to example 2. After crystallization and drying one obtained g 28.8 of a solid having titre (GC) 98.7% by weight of (alpha-phenylisopropyl)hydroquinone and 1.2% by weight of 2,5-bis-(alpha-phenylisopropyl)hydroquinone. Example 4-11 (according to the invention) One operated as in example 2, while replacing acetone with other polymerization inhibitors as indicated in the enclosed Table, in which all the obtained results were set forth, including those of examples 1-3 as well. By reaction of hydroquinone with alpha-methyl styrene (indicated in the Table by MST) one obtained essentially compound: which is usually defined as mono-methylstyrylhydroquinone (MSHQ). The corresponding dialkylated compound, obtained in much lower amount, is usually defined as di-methylstyrylhydroquinone (DMSHQ). In the Table "m.w." means "mother-water".

Claims: A process for preparing aryl-ethyl phenols having one or more alkyl substituents in the ethyl group comprising reacting a phenol with a vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon having one or more alkyl substituents in the vinyl group, in the presence of an organic solvent and of a catalyst consisting of an inorganic acid in an aqueous solution, characterized in that additionally an inhibitor of polymerization of the vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon is used in the reactant mixture. A process according to claim 1, characterized in that the starting phenol is selected from the group comprising hydroquinone, resorcinol, pyrocatechol, pyrogallol, benzophenol, cresols, p-octyl phenol, dihydroxydiphenyl, alpha-naphthol and beta-naphthol. A process according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the starting vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon having one or more alkyl substituents in the vinyl group is selected among those having the general formula wherein Ar represents an aryl group containing from 6 to 18 carbon atoms, optionally substituted by an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and R₁, R₂ and R₃ are selected among hydrogen and alkyl radicals having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, with the further proviso that at least one of R₁, R₂ and R₃ means an alkyl radical. A process according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that there is used as the vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon having one or more alkyl substituents in the vinyl group, alpha-methyl styrene, alpha-ethyl styrene, p-methyl-alpha-methyl styrene or beta-methyl styrene. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a molar ratio of starting phenol/ /vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon having one or more alkyl substituents in the vinyl group from 0.5 to 5 is used. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that there is used as a solvent an aromatic hydrocarbon. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a ratio by weight of solvent/ /starting phenol from 1 to 10 is used. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that there is used as a catalyst orthophosphoric acid, pyrophosphoric acid or sulphuric acid, diluted in water at 60-90% by weight. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a molar ratio of catalyst/starting phenol from 1 to 10 is used. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the inhibitor of polymerization is selected from the group comprising acetone, acetone derivatives, p-quinone, 2,6-ditert.butyl-p-cresol, p-nitrophenol, p-aminophenol, nitrobenzene, inorganic or organic salts of metals or metal oxides. A process according to anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that a molar ratio of inhibitor of polymerization/vinyl aromatic hydrocarbon having one or more alkyl substituents in the vinyl group from 0.01 to 5 is used. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a reaction temperature from 90 to 120°C is applied. Use of the reaction product obtained by the process of claims 1 to 12, wherein the starting phenol is hydroquinone and the starting vinyl-aromatic hydrocarbon is alpha-methyl-styrene, for the production of polymers, in particular of thermotropic liquid crystalline polyesters.

Inventors: BERETTA, MAURIZIO AUGUSTO, DR., CHAPOY, LARRY LAWRENCE, PH. D., UNGARELLI, RAFFAELE
Applicants: HIMONT ITALIA S.R.L.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: C07C37
IPC codes: C07C37