Method for preparation of alkoxysilanes having reduced halide content

Abstract: A method is disclosed for preparing an alkoxysilane having reduced halide content. Said method involves contacting a first mixture comprising an alkoxysilane and residual halide with a second mixture comprising 1.5 to 15 moles of an alkyl alcohol per mole of residual halide, said alcohol having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and 0.1 to 5 moles of an orthoformate per mole of residual halide, to form a final mixture comprising additional alkoxysilane and lower boiling species and then separating the lower boiling species and the alkoxysilane. The remaining residual halide may be further contacted with metal alkoxides to achieve even greater halide content reduction. Alkoxysilanes produced herein are useful as catalyst modifiers to manufacture polypropylene.

Description: The present invention is a method for preparing an alkoxysilane having reduced halide content. Our method comprises contacting a first mixture, comprising an alkoxysilane and residual halide with a second mixture having 1.5 to 15 moles of an alkyl alcohol per mole of residual halide, said alcohol having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and 0.1 to 5 moles of an orthoformate per mole of residual halide, to form a final mixture comprising additional alkoxysilane and lower boiling species and then separating the lower boiling species and the alkoxysilane. Any remaining residual halide is then further contacted with a metal alkoxide to achieve even greater halide content reduction.- Alkoxysilanes produced herein are useful as catalyst modifiers to manufacture polypropylene. U.S. Patent 2,698,861 describes a method of preparing alkoxysilicon compounds comprising reacting a halosilicon compound selected from halosilanes or their partial hydrolyzates with an orthoformate. The reaction byproducts are alkyl halides, residual halide species and formic acid esters. U.S. Patent 4,281,146 discloses a method of neutralizing a halogenated silicone compound comprising adding to said compound an orthoformate and an alcohol to form alkyl chloride and a formate which can subsequently be distilled off. Excess trimethylorthoformate is used by that patent to neutralize the halogenated silicone compound which is both expensive and undesirable for commercial operations. Our claimed invention provides a method for reducing the halide content of alkoxysilanes. Surprisingly, our method reduces the residual halide content of alkoxysilanes while also reducing alkali metal salt formation and filtration times. Furthermore, said method specifically reduces the halide content of sterically hindered alkoxysilanes. The present invention is a method for preparing alkoxysilanes having reduced halide content. The method comprises contacting a first mixture having an alkoxysilane described by formula R a H b Si(OR 1 ) (4-a-b) and residual halide with a second mixture comprising 1.5 to 15 moles of an alkyl alcohol per mole of residual halide, said alcohol having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and 0.1 to 5 moles of an orthoformate described by formula HC(OR 1 ) 3 per mole of residual halide, where each R is independently selected from substituted and unsubstituted hydrocarbon groups having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, each R 1 is an independently selected hydrocarbon group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, a = 0 to 3, b = 0 to 3 and a + b = 0 to 3, to form a final mixture comprising additional alkoxysilane and lower boiling species and then separating the lower boiling species and the alkoxysilane. Contacting the first mixture comprising an alkoxysilane and residual halide with the second mixture having an alkyl alcohol and an orthoformate can be effected in standard type reactors for conducting alkoxylation reactions. The reactor can be of a batch type, semi-batch type or continuous type. The alkoxysilanes of the method are described by formula R a H b Si(OR 1 ) (4-a-b) where each R is independently selected from substituted and unsubstituted hydrocarbon groups having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a = 0 to 3, b = 0 to 3 and a + b = 0 to 3. R can be an alkyl group such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, pentyl and hexyl; an alkenyl group such as vinyl, allyl and hexenyl; a cycloalkyl group such as cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, dicyclopentyl and cyclohexyl; a cycloalkenyl group such as cyclobutenyl, cyclopentenyl and cyclohexenyl; an aryl group such as phenyl, tolyl and naphthyl. Specific examples of alkoxysilanes include methoxysilane, ethoxysilane, butoxysilane, dimethyldimethoxysilane, trimethoxysilane, dimethoxysilane, t-butyltrimethoxysilane, t-butylmethyldimethoxysilane, tert-butyltrimethoxysilane, dimethyldiethoxysilane, phenyltriethoxysilane, octadecylvinyldimethoxysilane, phenylmethyldiethoxysilane, diphenyldimethoxysilane, isobutyltrimethoxysilane, octadecyltrimethoxysilane, cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane, triethoxysilane, methylvinyldimethoxysilane, triphenylmethoxysilane, 2-phenylpropylmethyldimethoxysilane, methylhexadienyldimethoxysilane, (chloropropyl)trimethoxysilane, (3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)trimethoxysilane, bis-(3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)dimethoxysilane, dicyclopentyldimethoxysilane, dodecyltrimethoxysilane, 5-hexenyldimethylmethoxysilane and tris-(3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)methoxysilane. The preferred alkoxysilanes are dicyclopentyldimethoxysilane and cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane. The residual halides present in the mixture are a by-product of reacting a halosilane with alcohol, where the residual halides are in the form of halosilanes and hydrogen chloride. The hydrochloric acid may be easily separated by distillation. However, the residual halides in the form of halosilanes are not easily separated by distillation because their boiling points are close to that of the alkoxysilanes. The residual halides may include dimethylchloroethoxysilane, phenylmethylmethoxychlorosilane, dicyclopentylchloromethoxysilane, phenylfluorodiethoxysilane, cyclohexylmethylchloromethoxysilane and mixtures of residual halides. It is desirable to reduce the residual halides in the mixture because they may cause the final product to be acidic and lead to the product reverting or degrading upon standing. Alternatively, residual halides may be contacted with a metal alkoxide to form an alkali metal salt. However, this route is undesirable because the quantity of alkali metal salts formed result in a long filtration time. It is much more economically desirable to reduce the residual halide by distillation before filtration, otherwise the filtration time may be more than doubled. The first mixture comprising an alkoxysilane and residual halide is contacted with a second mixture comprising 1.5 to 15 moles of an alkyl alcohol having 1 to 4 carbon atoms per mole of residual halide and 0.1 to 5 moles of an orthoformate per mole of residual halide, to form a final mixture comprising additional alkoxysilane and lower boiling species. Preferably, the second mixture comprises 2.5 to 10 moles of alkyl alcohol having 1 to 4 carbon atoms per mole of residual halide. Most preferably, the second mixture comprises 3.5 to 7 moles of alkyl alcohol having 1 to 4 carbon atoms per mole of residual halide. Specific examples of alkyl alcohols useful in the method include methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol. Preferred alkyl alcohols are methanol and ethanol. The second mixture further comprises 0.1 to 5 moles of an orthoformate described by formula HC(OR 1 ) 3 per mole of residual halide. Preferably, the second mixture comprises 0.5 to 2 moles of orthoformate per mole of residual halide. Most preferably, the second mixture comprises a stoichiometric amount of orthoformate per mole of residual halide. Each R 1 is an independently selected hydrocarbon group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms. Preferably R 1 is methyl or ethyl. Specific examples of orthoformates are methyl orthoformate and ethyl orthoformate with trimethyl orthoformates or triethyl orthoformate preferred. In the preferred embodiment of the method the orthoformate is dissolved in the alkyl alcohol. Preferred is when the weight percent of the orthoformate in alkyl alcohol is 10 to 60 weight percent. More preferred is when the weight percent of orthoformate in alkyl alcohol is 20 to 50 weight percent. Most preferred is when the weight percent of orthoformate in alkyl alcohol is 25 to 30 weight percent. It was discovered that in this range the weight percent of orthoformate to alkyl alcohol resulted in significant economical savings in the amount of orthoformate used while significantly decreasing residual halide reduction. When the mixture comprising an alkoxysilane and residual halide is contacted with the second mixture comprising an alkyl alcohol and orthoformate, the halide ion attached to the residual halide is alkoxylated to form additional alkoxysilane, as previously described, and lower boiling species. For example, when a mixture comprising methanol and trimethyl orthoformate contacts the residual halide, the halide ion is replaced with a methoxy group to form a methoxysilane and lower boiling species. The lower boiling species produced by the method include hydrogen chloride; alkylhalides such as methylchloride and ethylchloride; residual alkyl alcohols, such as methanol and ethanol; formic esters; and remaining residual halide. The alkoxysilane can be separated from the lower boiling species by distillation. The method is capable of reducing an alkoxysilane residual halide content from 70,000 ppm to 5 ppm. The residual halide content of the alkoxysilane may be further reduced to less than 5 ppm by contacting the lower boiling species with a metal alkoxide to convert any remaining residual halide in the form of halosilane to alkali metal salt. Since the residual halide level was reduced significantly, the quantity of the alkali metal salt formed is low and the resulting alkali metal salt may be separated from the alkoxysilane by filtration. Under these conditions, the filtration time is minimum and has little effect on overall process time and production cost. The metal alkoxides useful in the method are sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, titanium alkoxide and zirconium alkoxide. In alternative embodiments of the present method, the mixture comprising the alkoxysilane and residual halide may be contacted with a metal alkoxide before the mixture is contacted with the orthoformate. Also, the alkoxysilane may be contacted with a metal alkoxide before the lower boiling species are separated from the alkoxysilanes. However, in both cases more alkali metal salts are produced requiring longer filtration times. The present method is run at a temperature range of 50°C. to 100°C. It is preferred that the method be run at a temperature range of 70°C. to 85°C. The following examples are provided to illustrate the present method. Example 1 Evaluation to reduce residual chloride in cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane. A first mixture comprising cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane and residual chloride 1.8% (0.0005 moles) measured as HCl was loaded into a glass flask equipped with a reflux condenser, heating mantle and nitrogen inlet port. The initial chloride level was determined to be 18,000 ppm by KOH titration using bromcresol purple (BCP) as an indicator. Based on the acidity results, the first mixture was treated with a second mixture comprising stoichiometric amounts of 0.05 parts trimethyl orthoformate (0.00051 moles) and 0.16 parts methanol (0.0051 moles). The second mixture comprising methanol and trimethyl orthoformate was added through a funnel in 0.02 part incremental intervals as the first mixture comprising cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane and residual chloride was heated to 80°C. to 85°C. Samples were taken at 1 hour intervals and the chloride level determined by KOH titration using BCP as an indicator. The residual chloride level decreased from 18,000 ppm to 958 ppm in 2.8 hours and after 5.5 hours the residual chloride level decreased to 528 ppm. After 5.5 hours, additional trimethyl orthoformate was added to the mixture comprising 0.162 parts methanol and 0.05 parts trimethyl orthoformate. After 7.5 hours, the residual chloride level decreased to 126 ppm. Example 2 Evaluation to reduce residual chloride in cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane. A first mixture comprising cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane and residual chloride 1.9% (0.0005 moles) measured as HCl was loaded into a glass flask equipped with a reflux condenser, heating mantle and nitrogen inlet port. The initial chloride level was determined to be 19,339 ppm by KOH titration using bromcresol purple (BCP) as an indicator. Based on the acidity results, the first mixture was treated with a second mixture comprising about 0.17 parts methanol (0.0055 moles) and 0.06 parts trimethyl orthoformate (0.00055 moles). The second mixture comprising methanol and trimethyl orthoformate was added through a funnel in 0.02 part incremental intervals to the first mixture comprising cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane and residual chloride and the heated to 80°C. to 85°C. Samples were taken at 1 hour intervals and the chloride level determined by KOH titration using BCP as an indicator. The residual chloride level decreased from 19,339 ppm to 528 ppm in 3 hours. A mixture comprising cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane and lower boiling species was contacted with sodium methoxide 0.0001 parts to decrease the residual chloride level to less than 5 ppm. Example 3 Evaluation to reduce residual chloride in dicyclopentyldimethoxysilane. A first mixture comprising dicyclopentyldimethoxysilane and a monochlorinated silane as (C 5 H 9 ) 2 SiCl(OMe) (0.0018 moles) was loaded into a glass flask equipped with a reflux condenser, heating mantle and nitrogen inlet port. The initial chloride level was determined to be 66,802 ppm by KOH titration using bromcresol purple (BCP) as an indicator. Based on the acidity results, the first mixture was treated with a second mixture comprising 0.6 parts methanol (0.02 moles) and 0.21 parts trimethyl orthoformate (0.002 moles). The second mixture comprising methanol and trimethyl orthoformate was added through a funnel in 0.02 part incremental intervals to the first mixture comprising dicyclopentyldimethoxysilane and monochlorinated silane and heated to 80°C. to 85°C. Samples were taken at 1 hour intervals and the chloride level determined by KOH titration using BCP as an indicator. The residual chloride level decreased from 66,802 ppm to 99 ppm in 6 hours. The mixture comprising dicyclopentyldimethoxysilane and lower boiling species was contacted with sodium methoxide 0.00016 parts to decrease the residual chloride level to less than 5 ppm. Example 4 Evaluation to reduce residual chloride in cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane without methanol and excess trimethyl orthoformate. A first mixture comprising cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane and a monochlorinated silane as C 6 H 11 MeSiClOMe (0.0005 moles) was loaded into a glass flask equipped with a reflux condenser, heating mantle and nitrogen inlet port. The initial chloride level was determined to be 19,339 ppm by KOH titration using bromcresol purple (BCP) as an indicator. Based on the acidity results, the first mixture was treated with 0.25 parts trimethyl orthoformate (0.02 moles). The trimethyl orthoformate was added through a funnel in 0.02 part incremental intervals as the first mixture comprising cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane and monochlorinated silane was heated to 80°C. to 85°C. In this amount, trimethyl orthoformate was used in 342% excess. Samples were taken at 1 hour intervals and the chloride level determined by KOH titration using BCP as an indicator. The residual chloride level decreased from 19,339 ppm to 1,023 ppm in 5 hours. The residual chloride level in the mixture was further reduced to 38 ppm by adding 0.06 parts methanol (0.002 moles). Example 5 Evaluation to reduce residual chloride in cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane with a stoichiometric amount of trimethyl orthoformate. A first mixture comprising cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane and monochlorinated silane as C 6 H 11 MeSiClOMe 1.8% (0.0005 moles) was loaded into a glass flask equipped with a reflux condenser, heating mantle and nitrogen inlet port. The initial chloride level was determined to be 19,339 ppm by KOH titration using bromcresol purple (BCP) as an indicator. Based on the acidity results, the first mixture was treated with a second mixture comprising 0.02 parts methanol (0.0005 moles) and 0.05 parts trimethyl orthoformate (0.0005 moles). The amount of trimethyl orthoformate present was the equivalent stoichiometric amount required to completely react the total residual chloride present. The second mixture comprising methanol and trimethyl orthoformate was added through a funnel in 0.02 part incremental intervals as the first mixture comprising cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane and monochlorinated silane was heated to 80°C. to 85°C. Samples were taken at 1 hour intervals and the chloride level determined by KOH titration using BCP as an indicator. The residual chloride level decreased from 19,339 ppm to 13,777 ppm in 5 hours.

Claims: A method of preparing an alkoxysilane having reduced halide content comprising (a) contacting a first mixture, comprising an alkoxysilane of formula R a H b Si(OR 1 ) (4-a-b) and a residual halide with a second mixture comprising 1.5 to 15 moles of an alkyl alcohol per mole of residual halide, said alcohol comprising 1 to 4 carbon atoms and 0.1 to 5 moles of an orthoformate of formula HC(OR 1 ) 3 per mole of residual halide, where each R is independently selected from substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon groups comprising 1 to 20 carbon atoms, each R 1 is an independently selected hydrocarbon group comprising 1 to 4 carbon atoms, a = 0 to 3, b = 0 to 3 and a + b = 0 to 3, to form a final mixture comprising additional alkoxysilane and lower boiling species, and then (b) separating the lower boiling species and the alkoxysilane. The method of claim 1 further including contact of the lower boiling species and residual halide with a metal alkoxide. The method of claim 2 where the metal alkoxide is selected from sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, titanium alkoxide and zirconium alkoxide. The method of any of claims 1 - 3 where the residual halide is chloride. The method of any of claims 1 - 3 where the alkoxysilane is selected from methoxysilane, ethoxysilane, butoxysilane, dimethyldimethoxysilane, trimethoxysilane, dimethoxysilane, t-butyltrimethoxysilane, t-butylmethyldimethoxysilane, tert-butyltrimethoxysilane, dimethyldiethoxysilane, phenyltriethoxysilane, octadecylvinyldimethoxysilane, phenylmethyldiethoxysilane, diphenyldimethoxysilane, isobutyltrimethoxysilane, octadecyltrimethoxysilane, cyclohexylmethyldimethoxysilane, triethoxysilane, methylvinyldimethoxysilane, triphenylmethoxysilane, 2-phenylpropylmethyldimethoxysilane, methylhexadienyldimethoxysilane, (chloropropyl)trimethoxysilane, (3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)trimethoxysilane, bis-(3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)dimethoxysilane, dicyclopentyldimethoxysilane, dodecyltrimethoxysilane, 5-hexenyldimethylmethoxysilane and tris-(3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)methoxysilane. The method of any of claims 1 - 3 where the alkyl alcohol is selected from methanol, ethanol, propanol or butanol. The method of any of claims 1 - 3 where the mixture comprises a stoichiometric amount of orthoformate per mole of residual halide. The method of any of claims 1 - 3 where the orthoformate is selected from methyl orthoformate or ethyl orthoformate. The method according to any of claims 1 - 3 where the weight percent of orthoformate in alkyl alcohol is in the range of 10 to 60 weight percent. The method of claim 1 where the lower boiling species and the alkoxysilane are separated by distillation.

Inventors: BABATUNDE EMMANUEL, BANK HOWARD MARVIN, CYR ROBERT JAMES, NGUYEN BINH THANH, BABATUNDE, EMMANUEL, BANK, HOWARD MARVIN, CYR, ROBERT JAMES, NGUYEN, BINH THANH
Applicants: DOW CORNING, DOW CORNING CORPORATION
Application year: 1999
Main classification: C07F7
IPC codes: C07F7