Development of a Process for the Acid-Catalyzed Etherification of Glycerine and Isobutene Forming Glycerine Tertiary Butyl Ethers

Abstract

Conditions and catalysts for the title reaction are discussed, the aim being improved recovery of di- and triethers without loss in wastewater of catalyst (p-toluene sulfonic acid) or monoether. Kinetic data were successfully fitted to a simple model and the liq./liq. phase behavior of the glycerol/monoether/higher ether system was studied. The resulting reaction sequence consists of a reaction cascade followed by extn. of catalyst and monoether before a rectification step providing pure di- and triethers. [on SciFinder(R)]