Production of cyclohexanones, useful for liquid crystals and polymers, comprises partial hydrogenation of the corresponding phenol in an organic solvent and distillative separation of the solvent as an azeotrope following water addition

摘要

Production of cyclohexanones comprises partial hydrogenation of a phenol in an organic solvent, that forms an azeotrope with water, sulfonation with a sulfonating agent, separation of the sulfonated product as a solid, neutralization of the excess sulfonating agent, and distillative separation of the organic solvent from the hydrogenated product as an azeotrope following the addition of water. A process for the production of cyclohexanones comprises: (1) Step (A): partial hydrogenation of the corresponding phenol in an organic solvent, that forms an azeotrope with water, in the presence of a catalyst; (2) Step (B): sulfonation of the resulting cyclohexanone and the non-reacted phenol with a sulfonating agent; (3) Step (C): separation of the sulfonated product from (B) as a solid; (4) Step (D): neutralization of the excess sulfonating agent; (5) Step (E): separation of the resulting neutralized product from (D) as a solid from the solvent containing the hydrogenated product; and (6) Step (F) distillative separation of the organic solvent from the hydrogenated product as an azeotrope following the addition of water.