Process for the production of unsymmetric and/or symmetric dialkyl carbonates and diols
AssigneeBadger Licensing LLC
InventorsJ. Scott Buchanan, Zhaozhong Jiang, Jose Guadalupe Santiesteban, William A. Weber
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process for the production of a dialkyl carbonate and a diol, such as dimethyl carbonate and ethylene glycol, by reacting a feed containing a cyclic carbonate, a hydroxy alkyl carbonate and an aliphatic monohydric alcohol in the presence of a transesterification catalyst is described. In another aspect, a process is described which is particularly useful for producing unsymmetric dialkyl carbonates, such as ethyl methyl carbonate.
Claims16
A process for the production of a dialkyl carbonate and a diol from an alkylene oxide, carbon dioxide and an aliphatic monohydric alcohol comprising:
- (a) reacting an alkylene oxide with carbon dioxide in the presence of a carbonation catalyst at a temperature in the range of about 50 to 250° C. and at a pressure of at least about 1379 kPa (200 psi) to provide a crude cyclic carbonate stream comprising a cyclic carbonate and carbonation catalyst;
- and
- (b) reacting said cyclic carbonate and a hydroxy alkyl carbonate with said aliphatic monohydric alcohol in the presence of a transesterification catalyst, thereby producing a crude product stream comprising said dialkyl carbonate, said diol and said hydroxy alkyl carbonate;
- and
- (c) separating said hydroxy alkyl carbonate from said crude product stream and recycling said hydroxy alkyl carbonate to step (b).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.