Method of obtaining an alcohol of order greater than by reacting ethylene with an aliphatic alcohol

摘要

Higher alcohols (molecular weight up to 500) are prepared by reacting a C1-C8 saturated monohydric alcohol selected from aliphatic primary or secondary alcohols, or cycloaliphatic alcohols, with ethylene in the presence of a free radical reaction initiator at 50-400 DEG C., and at a pressure between 50 and 3000 psig. for 0.5-10 hours, in the absence of iron-containing materials. The reaction may be carried out in the presence of copper, nickel, zinc, or alloys of these metals and may be in a reactor lined with "Monel" (Registered Trade Mark), glass "Pyrex" (Registered Trade Mark), silver, or "Teflon" (Registered Trade Mark). The alcohol may be methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol. Methanol produces mainly primary saturated alcohols; the product from ethanol contains more than 50% secondary alcohols; tertiary alcohols are produced from isopropanol. The free radical reaction initiator may be actinic radiation, or a C1-C12 organic peroxide or hydroperoxide, or hydrogen peroxide, which are used in amounts of 0.05 to 5 grams per litre of alcohol. Examples of such initiators are di-t-butyl peroxide, and cumene hydroperoxide. Specification 708,254 is referred to.