Oxidative coupling of alkylphenols catalyzed by metal complexes of polyimino acids

A method of preparing by an oxidative coupling reaction a carbon-carbon coupled condensation product of an alkyl phenol, an alkoxy phenol, or a 1-naphthol having one of the following formulas:

• ##STR17## wherein R.sub.2 and R.sub.6 are alkyl, R.sub.3 and R.sub.5 are hydrogen or alkyl, and R.sub.4 is hydrogen or methyl with the proviso that R.sub.3 and R.sub.5 cannot both be tertiary alkyl, ##STR18## wherein R.sub.2 and R.sub.4 are alkyl provided that at least one of said alkyl groups is a tertiary alkyl and R.sub.3 and R.sub.5 are hydrogen or alkyl, ##STR19## wherein each R is any alkyl group as defined above for the alkylphenols and R.sub.1 is either hydrogen or methyl, provided that the substituents adjacent to R.sub.1 cannot both be tertiary alkyl or tertiary alkoxy, ##STR20## wherein R.sub.2, R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 are hydrogen, alkyl containing from 1 to 5 carbon atoms, or alkoxy containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, provided that either or both R.sub.2 and R.sub.4 are hydrogen and R.sub.5, R.sub.6, R.sub.7, and R.sub.8 are hydrogen, alkyl containing from 1 to 5 carbon atoms or alkoxy containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms provided that tertiary alkyl or tertiary alkoxy groups may not be attached to adjacent carbon atoms of the naphthalene molecule or ##STR21## wherein R.sub.3 is hydrogen, a primary, secondary or tertiary alkyl or an alkoxy group, R.sub.5 is a primary or secondary alkyl group containing from 1-5 carbon atoms and R.sub.2 and R.sub.6 are a primary, secondary or tertiary alkyl or an alkoxy group, said method comprising contacting an aqueous mixture of the phenol or naphthol with oxyten or oxygen containing gas in the presence of a ctalyst system consisting essentially of a polyimino acetic acid metal chelate complex wherein the metal is selected from the class consisting of divalent copper, divalent nickel, divalent cobalt, divalent manganese, trivalent cerium, trivalent chromium, and trivalent iron and wherein the polyimino acid has the structural formula of ##STR22## wherein each R is independently hydrogen, alkyl, hydroxy alkyl or --(CH.sub.2).sub.n CO.sub.2 H;
• n is 1 or 2;
• m is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4;
• p is zero or 1;
• p' is zero or 1;
• q is 1 or 2;
• q' is 1 or 2 and wherein the sum of p plus q is 2 and the sum of p' plus q' is 2;
• and a sufficient amount of alkaline material to sustain the pH in the range of 8.5-9.5 during the oxidative coupling coupling reaction, said alkaline material being selected from the group consisting of alkali metal hydroxides, carbonates and bicarbonates.