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US 5,315,018 AGranted
Process for the functionalization of organic molecules
AssigneeRoussel Uclaf
InventorsStuart J. Penny, Roy H. Valentine
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to the hydroxymethylation of aromatic compounds and the subsequent transformation of the hydroxymethylated aromatic compounds to the polyalkoxyalkylene derivative thereof.
Claims6
A process for the preparation of a compound of the formula:
- ##STR8## wherein R is a hydrogen atom or a C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 -alkyl group, and R.sup.1 is a polyalkoxyalkylene group,
- which comprises (a) reacting a compound of the formula:
- ##STR9## with formaldehyde in a carboxylic acid of the formula:
- R.sub.A --COOH
- wherein R.sub.A is a C.sub.1 -C.sub.9 hydrocarbyl group or a protected derivative thereof in the presence of an acid catalyst to produce an esterified hydroxymethylated derivative of the formula:
- ##STR10## which is thereafter (b) halogenated to produce a compound of the formula:
- ##STR11## wherein Hal is an halogen atom, and thereafter (c) reacting the halogenated compound with HO--R.sup.1 or the sodium salt thereof to produce a compound of formula I.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.