Method for simultaneous preparation of bisphenol F and novolak phenol resins

Abstract

Herein disclosed is a method for simultaneously preparing a highly pure bisphenol F and/or a bisphenol F for general use and a novolak phenol resin and/or a high molecular weight novolak phenol resin comprising the steps of: (1) a preparation step comprising reacting phenol with formaldehyde in the presence of an acid catalyst and removing the acid catalyst, water and the unreacted phenol from the resulting reaction product to give a crude bisphenol F; (2) a distillation step comprising distilling a part of the crude bisphenol F to give a highly pure bisphenol F, as a distillate, having a binuclear moiety-content of not less than 95% by weight and a novolak phenol resin, as a still-bottom product, having a binuclear moiety-content of not more than 15% by area; (3) a step for mixing the highly pure bisphenol F with the remaining crude bisphenol F to give a bisphenol F for general use; and (4) a step for polymerizing the novolak phenol resin with formaldehyde in the presence of an acid catalyst to give a high molecular weight novolak phenol resin.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.