Process for acid-catalyzed decomposition of aryl α-hydroperoxide with continuous flow tubular reactor

A process for acid-catalyzed decomposition of aryl α-hydroperoxide with a continuous flow tubular reactor, wherein the process comprises:

• respectively forming a homogenous solution of the aryl α-hydroperoxide and an acid in a solvent;
• then synchronously introducing at a flow rate the aryl α-hydroperoxide solution and the acid solution by a metering pump into a mixer for mixing, and controlling the flow rate to change the molar ratio of aryl α-hydroperoxide to acid to a range of 200:1-1000:1;
• entering the mixed solution into the tubular reactor for a residence time to carry out reaction to obtain product, controlling temperature of the reaction by an external heat exchanger;
• after the reaction is completed, flowing product out from an outlet of the reactor and cooling the product;
• wherein the residence time in the reactor is 40 s-240 s, and the temperature of the reaction is 60° C.-140° C.,
• the aryl of the aryl α-hydroperoxide is a phenyl ring, and the aryl α-hydroperoxide is a compound containing one or more substituents expressed by the formula I on the phenyl ring:
• R1 and R2 each independently represent a C1-C5 alkyl group, and optionally, R1 and R2 are bonded to form a ring,
• the reactor includes one or more component enhancing effects of mass transfer and heat transmission selected from the group consisting of a Raschig ring, a Pall ring, a Nutter ring, and a Very Special Packing (VSP) ring.