.beta.-(Sec-alkoxy) ethanol process
AssigneeShell Oil Company
InventorsTimm E. Paxson, Leo Kim, Andre B. Van Aken
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Abstract
An improved process for preparing .beta.-(sec-alkoxy) ethanol which comprises reacting an olefin with ethylene glycol in the presence of a sulfuric acid or benzenesulfonic acid catalyst and sufficient sulfolane or alkyl-substituted sulfolane solvent to provide a one phase reaction medium, extracting the reaction products with an alkane and recovering the .beta.-(sec-alkoxy) ethanol product from the alkane extract.
Claims2
A process for preparing .beta.-(sec-alkoxy) ethanol which comprises (a) reacting an olefin having from about 8 to about 22 carbon atoms with ethylene glycol at a temperature ranging from about 80.degree. to about 180.degree. in the presence of an acid catalyst selected from the group consisting of sulfuric acid and benzenesulfonic acid and sufficient solvent to provide a one phase reaction medium with the solvent consisting essentially of a substance selected from the group consisting of, 2,4-dimethylsulfolane, 3,4-dimethylsulfolane, and mixtures thereof, (b) extracting the reaction product with an alkane having a carbon number ranging from about 5 to about 20 and (c) recovering the .beta.-(sec-alkoxy) ethanol product from the alkane product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.