Method for preparing sebacic acid and octanol-2

摘要

A process for producing a cleaved product from a ricinic compound by a high temperature reaction, achieved by combining an alkali in aqueous solution, a thinning agent, and a ricinic compound at a first temperature sufficient to distill off volatiles in the reaction mixture and then raising the temperature to a temperature sufficient to initiate a pyrolysis reaction and form a cleaved product from the ricinic compound, wherein the amount of thinning agent is in at a level sufficient to reduce the solidification of the mass during the reaction and foaming and increase the yield and purity of the products. The thinning agent is an isocarboxylic acid, an isoaldehyde or an isoalcohol containing from 5 to 13 carbon units. The thinning agent is relatively inexpensive, non-volatile and resistant to decomposition under the reaction conditions, easy to recover, and a non-foaming agent. The ricinic compound is castor oil, a ricinoleate, a ricinic acid ester, a ricinoleic acid, a ricinoleic acid amide, a ricinoleic acid ester, a sulfonated ricinoleate, a ricinic ester, a ricinic alcohol, ricinoleyl acid, a ricinoleyl acid amide, ricinoleyl alcohol, ricinoleyl alcohol. ester, an alkali ricinoleate or a mixture thereof The reaction mixture is acidified at the end of the reaction to allow for effective recovery of the thinning agent and the products. The invention also relates to the reaction mixture used in this cleavage reaction. The invention is useful in producing cleaved products of high yield and purity.