Patent ID: 7586013

Claim:
A method for the decarboxylation of a phenolic substrate to produce a vinyl monomer comprising the steps of: a) providing a phenolic substrate having the general structure: wherein R 1 , R 3 , and R 5 are H, OH, or OCH 3 ; R 2 , and R 4 are H, OH, OCH 3 or linear or branched alkyl; R 6 and R 7 are H, halo, or cyano provided that at least one of R 1 , R 3 , or R 5 is OH, and that R 2 , and R 4 are not both simultaneously t-butyl; b) providing a substantially anhydrous reaction mixture consisting essentially of: i) a non-amine basic catalyst present in catalytic amounts; and ii) at least one polar organic solvent or polar organic solvent mixture; and c) contacting the phenolic substrate of step a) with the reaction mixture of step b) at a temperature of at least about 100° C. for a time sufficient for the decarboxylation of the phenolic substrate to produce a stable vinyl monomer wherein the decarboxylation is carried out in a substantially anhydrous reaction medium; and d) optionally isolating the stable vinyl monomer of step c.