Sulfoxidation process
AssigneeTexaco Trinidad, Inc.
InventorsHenry Shuttleworth, Wahid R. Ali
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons are converted to color-stable aliphatic sulfonic acids in a single step without any initiator but in the presence of a low molecular weight acyl oxide and under anhydrous conditions by the rapid removal of the products as they are being formed, followed immediately by cooling and degassing to remove sulphur dioxide, then by immediate neutralization and complete hydrolysis at the boiling point of the unstable acid precursors present in the neutralized sulphonates by boiling at constant volume at a pH of about 8-10. The alkali metal salts of the sulfonic acids prepared by this process are color and pH-stable and useful as biodegradable detergents.
Claims7
In a sulfonation process wherein ferric hydroxide contamination due to iron alloys reactors is avoided comprising reacting, in a reaction zone, substantially straight chain saturated liquid hydrocarbons with oxygen and a sulfur dioxide under substantially anhydrous conditions in the presence of about 1 to about 4 percent by weight of a low molecular weight aliphatic acyl oxide having from 4 to about 8 carbon atoms at temperatures of about 25.degree. to about 55.degree. C. under a pressure ranging from about 0 to 100 psig, the improvement which comprises continuously removing the resulting heavy product phase from the reactants to separate said phase as soon as it forms from unreacted hydrocarbons;
- cooling said phase to between above 0.degree. C and 10.degree. C and immediately degassing said phase free of sulfur dioxide;
- neutralizing the acid in said separated phase at a pH of 8-10;
- hydrolyzing unstable acid precursors present in said phase by boiling said phase at substantially constant volume at said pH, for about 10 to about 14 hours, filtering solid contaminants from said phase;
- and recovering color-stable sulphonates from the hydrolyzed phase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.