Process for preparing mercaptans
AssigneePennwalt Corporation
InventorDaniel A. Dimmig
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Abstract
An improvement in the process for preparing mercaptans wherein an ethylenically unsaturated organic compound is reacted with hydrogen sulfide that is present in molar excess, catalyzed by UV light, with recovery of the desired mercaptan from the reaction mixture. The improvement being the carrying out of the reaction in the presence of an effective amount of selected class of acetophenone reaction promoters. The improved process results in much faster reaction rates.
Claims8
In a process for preparing a mercaptan wherein an ethylenically unsaturated organic compound is reacted with hydrogen sulfide that is present in molar excess in the presence of ultraviolet radiation, and said mercaptan is recovered from the resulting reaction mixture;
- the improvement comprising carrying out said reaction in the presence of an effective amount of an acetophenone derivative reaction promoter of the structural formula:
- ##STR2## wherein R.sub.1 is an alkyl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms;
- R.sub.2 is a phenyl group or an alkoxy group --OR wherein R is an alkyl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms;
- R.sub.3 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl of from 1 to 8 carbon atoms, aryl of from 6 to 14 carbon atoms or cycloalkyl of five to eight ring carbon atoms;
- R' is an alkyl group of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, chloro or bromo and n is a whole number between zero and three.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.