Epichlorohydrin → Diglycidyl ether

Temperatur

118 °C

To a 5-liter, 4-necked round-bottomed flask fitted with a condenser, addition funnel, stirrer, and thermometer were charged 1260 g (1.71 moles) above polyisopropylphenol. A 50% NaOH solution (137.3 g, 1.71 moles) was then added and the mixture heated with stirring to reflux (118° C.) and held there for 0.5 hours. The mixture was vacuum stripped at 100° (0.5 mm) to remove water, recharged with 50 g toluene, and restripped (105°, 0.2 mm) to azeotropically remove the last traces of water. The reaction was then cooled to 65° C. and 792 g (8.55 moles) epichlorohydrin was added and the reaction heated to reflux (~120° C.) for three hours. The excess epichlorohydrin was then vacuum stripped at 120° (0.05 mm) to yield ~1450 g of the crude glycidyl ether.