Isobutane → Di-tert-butyl peroxide

Participants

Reaction Steps

In accordance with the invention, isobutane oxidate comprised of both tertiary butyl alcohol and tertiary butyl hydroperoxide is reacted in the presence of a water soluble acid catalyst under conditions effective to form ditertiary butyl peroxide. The reaction mixture is phase separated in order to separately recover an aqueous phase containing tertiary butyl alcohol and the acid catalyst and an organic phase containing ditertiary butyl peroxide. The aqueous phase is distilled in order to recover tertiary butyl alcohol overhead and also to separate any water produced during the reaction or introduced in the reaction feed streams, and a concentrated aqueous acid stream is recovered and recycled to the peroxide-forming reaction. The organic phase containing product ditertiary butyl peroxide is then subjected to a series of separation steps including a water extraction step in order to recover product ditertiary butyl peroxide as well as such tertiary butyl alcohol as is contained in the organic phase.

Provenance & Evidence