Process and alkylmercaptoamine catalyst for production of bisphenol-A

摘要

Bisphenol-A is prepared by reacting an excess of phenol with acetone in the presence of a modified sulfonic acid cationic exchange resin catalyst having a plurality of sulfonic acid sites of the general formula in which IER represents the ionic exchange resin backbone, each a and b is an integer from 0 to about 5, and each R is selected independently from H, OH, SH and alkyl groups. The catalyst exhibits high activity and selectivity at moderate reaction temperatures, low production of colored impurities, and high stability.