Process for preparing phenol and acetone by acid-catalyzed cleavage of cumene hydroperoxide

US6307112A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Phenolchemie GmbH & Co. KG · DE

Inventors

• Manfred Weber · Greensboro, US
• Otto Gerlich · Gladbeck, DE
• Michael Kleine-Boymann · Bottrop, DE
• Werner Pompetzki · Dorsten, DE
• Reinhard Sigg · Marl, DE
• Christian Michalik · Essen, DE
• Jurgen Volke · Gladbeck, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 20, 1999
• Grant date: Oct 23, 2001
• Expiry date: Dec 20, 2019

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y02P20/52
• WIPO field: Organic fine chemistry
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

Phenol and acetone are prepared by a process comprising homogeneously cleaving cumene hydroperoxide in the presence of acid catalyst in a cleavage apparatus comprising at least one reactor having plug flow characteristics thereby producing a cleavage product; recycling some of the cleavage product stream by combining the recycled cleavage product stream with the cumene hydroperoxide-containing feed stream fed to said cleavage apparatus under the condition that the mass flow ratio of the recycled partial cleavage product stream to the cumene hydroperoxide-containing feed stream sent to the cleavage reactor is less than 10.