Process for sulfonating internal olefins
AssigneeVista Chemical Company
InventorsUpali Weerasooriya, John Lin, K. Lee Matheson, Donald T. Robertson, Janet L. Watson, LeAnn M. Rowe
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Abstract
A process for sulfonating internal olefins wherein a dilute solution of the internal olefins in an inert hydrocarbon solvent is sulfonated to produce a reaction mixture containing intermediate sulfonated compounds, the intermediate sulfonated compounds in the reaction mixture being neutralized under conditions to form neutralized sulfonated compounds, the neutralized sulfonated compounds in the reaction mixture being hydrolyzed to form a product mixture containing hydroxy alkane sulfonates and alkene sulfonates that are then recovered.
Claims9
A process for sulfonating internal olefins comprising:
- sulfonating a solution of internal olefins having the general formula:
- R.sub.1 --CH.dbd.CH--R.sub.2
- wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 may be the same or different and are each an alkyl group containing from about 1 to about 30 carbon atoms with a sulfonating agent in a hydrocarbon solvent that is substantially inert under sulfonation conditions and does not deleteriously affect sulfonation of said internal olefins to produce a reaction mixture containing intermediate sulfonated compounds, said internal olefins being present in said solvent in an amount of from about 5 to about 40% by weight;
- neutralizing said intermediate sulfonated compounds in said reaction mixture under conditions to form neutralized sulfonated compounds;
- hydrolyzing said neutralized sulfonated compounds in said reaction mixture under conditions to form a product mixture containing hydroxy alkane sulfonates and alkene sulfonates;
- and
- recovering said product mixture from said solution.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.