Method for separation and recovering hydroquinone

In a method for separating and recovering hydroquinone from a by-product-containing acid-cleavage product obtained by acid-cleavage of an oxidation product of para-diisopropyl benzene in methyl isobutyl ketone as a solvent, which comprises distilling said by-product-containing acid-cleavage product in the presence of an added aromatic hydrocarbon to remove low-boiling fractions, including the solvent, contacting the resultant hydroquinone-containing distillation bottoms with water, and crystallizing and separating hydroquinone, the improvement wherein

• a. the distillation to remove the low-boiling fractions is effected without the addition of water and in the absence of an azeotropic amount of water, and also in the presence of about 15 to 100 parts by weight of an added aromatic hydrocarbon selected from the group consisting of cumene and cymene per 100 parts by weight of the hydroquinone,
• b. the contact of the hydroquinone-containing distillation bottoms with water is effected under conditions such that the temperature of said bottoms is about 150 to 190.degree. C., the water is used in an amount of about 100 to 5000 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the hydroquinone, and the hydroquinone in the hydroquinone-containing distillation bottoms is extracted into the water, thereby avoiding crystallization of the hydroquinone in the distillation bottoms, and, after the extraction, the mixture resulting from the extraction is separated into an aqueous phase and an oily phase, and the hydroquinone is separated from the aqueous phase.