CONCURRENT EPOXIDATION AND CATALYST RESIDUE EXTRACTION

摘要

A process for the concurrent epoxidation of, and catalyst residue extraction from, anionically polymerized diene-containing polymers which have been hydrogenated using a Group VIII metal catalyst, said process comprising: (a) introducing a catalyst residue-containing diene-containing polymer cement into a reactor; (b) heating the polymer cement to a temperature of from 25 to 65 ~C; (c) contacting the polymer cement with a caustic solution; (d) contacting the polymer cement with a peracid solution; (e) mixing the polymer, caustic, and acid at from 25 to 65 ~C for from 1/2 to 3 hours; (f) optionally adding sufficient caustic solution to neutralize excess acid while continuing the mixing; (g) adding sufficient water such that the aqueous/organic phase weight ratio is from 0.2:1 to 1:1 while continuing the mixing; (h) allowing the phases to settle for from 5 to 90 minutes; (i) removing the aqueous phase from the reactor; (j) optionally repeating steps (g), (h), and (i) until catalyst residue contents are less than 10 ppm; and (k) removing the polymer cement from the reactor and removing the solvent to recover the epoxidized polymer.