Abstract: Bisphenol-A (BPA) is efficiently produced from phenol and acetone via countercurrent and multistage contact with a solid acid catalyst in the presence of an agent that enhances the removal of water of reaction from the reaction zone. A preferred contacting device is a distillation column wherein the catalyst is contained within a distillation mass transfer structure. A preferred water removal agent is a C6 hydrocarbon, e.g., n-hexane. The column is configured with a reboiler, reflux condenser, and decanter as reflux drum. Phenol (in excess of the reaction stoichiometry) is fed to the column above the catalyst zone and acetone toward the bottom of the catalyst zone. Hexane is fed directly into the reboiler. Boilup is primarily hexane vapor which as it ascends the column removes water from the reaction zone in the vapor stream while the acetone is maintained within the reaction zone by dissolving in the descending phenol rich liquid stream.

Abstract: The hydrogenated aromatic oligomer of this invention is represented by the following formula (1) (A-F)n-A??(1) (wherein A is a segment comprising mainly a polycyclic aromatic compound, a phenol and at least partly hydrogenated products of these two, F is methylene or dimethylene ether and n is a number in the range of 1-100) and obtained by the reaction of a polycyclic aromatic compound such as naphthalene with formaldehyde or a derivative thereof and a phenol in the presence of an acid catalyst followed by hydrogenation of the product aromatic oligomer. This oligomer is odorless, highly transparent and useful as an improver of the adhesiveness and vibration damping properties when incorporated in resins and rubbers and performs excellently as a vibration damping agent in a wide temperature range.

Abstract: In a method for the production of o-alkyl phenols by conversion of phenol with an alkanol at elevated temperature in the gas phase in the presence of a metal catalyst, the conversion takes place in at least two stages wherein the alkanol/phenol molar ratio in each reaction stage is set to a value of approximately ?0.4; a clear increase in the selectivity for the o-alkyl phenol is obtained.