| 摘要 |
PURPOSE:To prepare the titled compound in high yield, by reacting phenol or o- cresol with methanol, distilling the resulted methylation reaction product in the presence of a specific aliphatic saturated hydrocarbon, and separating and recycling o- cresol. CONSTITUTION:Phenol and/or o-cresol are made to react with methanol in the presence of a catalyst. Gaseous by-products are removed from the resulted reaction mix- ture, and then unreacted methanol and water are distilled off to obtain the methylation reaction product of phenol, composed mainly of o-cresol and the objective 2,6- xylenol. The reaction product is distilled in the presence of at least one 9-13C aliphatic saturated hydrocarbon having a boiling point of 150-190 deg.C under atmospheric pressure (e.g. pref. decane, undecane, dodecane, etc.). Co-existing hydrocarbon and o-cresol are distilled out from the top of the column (cresol is returned to the methylation reaction system), and the objective product is recovered from the bottom of the column. |
