US 4,788,277 AGranted

Method for producing a polyphenylene ether

AssigneeAsahi Kasei Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorsSadao Ibe, Tokio Sakurai, Kazuhiro Takahashi, Yoshiro Unno

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Abstract

There is disclosed a novel method for producing a polyphenylene ether, in which a phenol compound is reacted with an oxidizing agent in a reaction medium in the presence of a highly active catalyst comprising at least one copper compound, at least one 1,3-diamine compound selected from N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-1,3-diaminopropanes and at least one halogen compound selected from a bromine compound and a chlorine compound, wherein the reaction medium contains at least one alcohol selected from the group consisting of methanol and ethanol. The novel method can be advantageously employed for efficiently producing a polyphenylene ether which has a desirable color and gives a composition improved with respect to Izod impact strength in combination with a rubber-reinforced polystyrene and the like. Major application of such a composition is found in the field of generally known engineering plastics.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A method for producing a polyphenylene ether, which comprises reacting a phenol compound represented by the formula:

##STR5## wherein R.sup.1 represents a hydrocarbon residue having 1 to 4 carbon atoms or a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group, R.sup.2 represents a member selected from the group consisting of a halogen atom, a hydrocarbon residue having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group, and R.sup.3 represents a member selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a hydrocarbon residue having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group, with an oxidizing agent in a reaction medium containing at least one alcohol selected from the group consisting of methanol and ethanol in the presence of a catalyst comprising at least one copper compound, at least one 1,3-diamine compound selected from the group consisting of N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-1,3-diaminopropane and an N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-1,3-diaminopropane having a substituent on its propane chain, and at least one halogen compound selected from the group consisting of a bromine compound and a chlorine compound.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.