Recovery of phenol, acetone and dimethyl phenyl carbinol from cumene oxidation product

In the process for obtaining phenol from cumene hydroperoxide, which has been obtained by liquid-phase oxidation of cumene with molecular oxygen, which involves forming a reaction mixture by continuously feeding the cumene oxidation product containing at least about 80 percent by weight of cumene hydroperoxide into a decomposer wherein the incoming hydroperoxide is diluted by cumene hydroperoxide decomposition products previously formed therein, maintaining the reaction mixture at elevated temperature, feeding to the reaction mixture a decomposition catalyst selected from the group consisting of sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid, withdrawing reaction mixture from the decomposer, removing the decomposition catalyst from the product withdrawn from the decomposer, and fractionally distilling the resulting organic products to separately recover an acetone fraction, a phenol fraction and one or more by-product fractions, the improvement which comprises, in combination:

• a. conducting the process in two decomposers through which the reaction mixture is passed serially, wherein the first decomposer is equipped with a agitator, and wherein the second decomposer is a tubular decomposer;
• b. maintaining the reaction mixture in the decomposers at a temperature in the range of from 75.degree. to 95.degree. C.;
• c. feeding the decomposition catalyst to the reaction mixture in the first decomposer in amount of from 0.002 to 0.02 percent by weight of the cumene hydroperoxide feed;
• d. conducting the decomposition reaction in the absence of added water so that the reaction mixture does not contain more than about 0.3 percent by weight of water, based on the weight of the reaction mixture;
• e. withdrawing reaction mixture from the first decomposer at cumene hydroperoxide concentration of between about 3 and about 6 percent by weight, based on the weight of the reaction mixture, and withdrawing reaction mixture from the second decomposer at cumene hydroperoxide concentrations not exceeding about 0.3 percent by weight, based on the weight of the reaction mixture;
• and
• f. adding a base selected from the group consisting of alkali metal hydroxides and alkali metal phenates to the product withdrawn from the second decomposer in excess of amount required to neutralize the decomposition catalyst and sufficient to adjust the pH of the product to from 6 to 8;
• so that dehydration of dimethyl phenyl carbinol to form alpha-methylstyrene is substantially avoided during the decomposition and distillation steps.