Process for the synthesis of bisphenol

1. A continuous process for the reaction of a ketone or an aldehyde with a phenol to form a bisphenol comprising reacting a feed comprising a phenol, water and a ketone or aldehyde in the presence of an ion exchange resin catalyst to produce an effluent; determining the para—para bisphenol selectivity of the reaction; and adjusting the concentration of the water in the feed based upon the para—para bisphenol selectivity.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein said ketone is acetone and said phenol is a hydroxy aromatic compound with at least one unsubstituted position.

3. The process of claim 2 wherein the unsubstituted position is para to the hydroxy position.

4. The process of claim 2 wherein the phenol is substituted with at least one inert substituent.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the phenol to ketone mole ratio is about 4 to about 65.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein said phenol is selected from the group consisting of phenol, 2-cresol, 3-cresol, 2,6-dimethylphenol, resorcinol, napthol and mixtures of two or more of the foregoing phenols.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein said ketone is selected from the group consisting of 9-fluorenone, benzophenone, acetone, acetophenone, cyclohexanone, 3,3,5-trimethylcyclohexanone, 4-hydroxyacetophenone, 4,4′-dihydroxybenzophenone and mixtures of two or more of the foregoing ketones.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein said aldehyde is selected from the group consisting of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, butyraldehyde and mixtures of two or more of the foregoing aldehydes.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the reaction has a weight hour space velocity of about 0.1 to about 10.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the feed has a temperature of about 40 to about 90° C.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the para/para selectivity of the reaction is greater than about 94%.

12. The process of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst has a degree of crosslinking of about 1.5% to about 6.0%.

13. The process of claim 12 , wherein catalyst is a mixture of resins of different degrees of crosslinking wherein the degree of crosslinking of each resin comprising the mixture is about 1.5 to about 6%.

14. The process of claim 1 wherein the catalyst has a degree of neutralization of about 35 to about 60 mole %.

15. The process of claim 1 , wherein the process has a conversion level greater than or equal to about 70%.

16. The process of claim 1 , wherein the amount of water in the feed is less than or equal to about 5 weight percent, based on the total weight of the feed.

17. The process of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst further comprises an attached promoter.

18. The process of claim 17 , wherein the attached promoter is cysteamine, 4-pyridylethylmercaptan or a combination of the foregoing.

19. The process of claim 1 , wherein the ketone or aldehyde is added in a single portion.

20. The process of claim 1 , wherein the ketone or aldehyde is added in multiple portions.

21. The process of claim 1 , wherein the feed comprises recycled compounds.

22. The process of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst further comprises a bulk promoter.

23. A process for the manufacture of polycarbonate comprising continuously reacting a feed comprising a phenol, a ketone and water in the presence of an ion exchange resin catalyst to produce an effluent comprising bisphenol; determining the para—para bisphenol selectivity of the reaction; adjusting the concentration of the water in the feed based upon the para—para bisphenol selectivity; and reacting said bisphenol with a carbonic acid derivative or a carbonate diester in the presence of a polymerization catalyst.

24. A continuous process for the reaction of a ketone with a phenol to form a bisphenol in the presence of a catalyst comprising determining the catalytic activity of the catalyst over time; introducing a feed comprising water; phenol and ketone to the catalyst; reacting the phenol and ketone in the presence of the catalyst; controlling the concentration of the water in the feed based upon the amount of catalyst and catalytic activity; wherein the reaction has a para—para bisphenol selectivity of at least about 94%.

25. A process for the manufacture of polycarbonate comprising

continuously synthesizing a bisphenol in the presence of a catalyst by determining the catalytic activity of the catalyst; introducing a feed comprising water, phenol and ketone to the catalyst; reacting the phenol and ketone in the presence of the catalyst to form bisphenol; controlling the concentration of the water in the feed based upon the amount of catalyst and catalytic activity; and

reacting the bisphenol with a carbonic acid derivative or a carbonic diester in the presence of a polymerization catalyst, wherein the reaction generating bisphenol has a para—para bisphenol selectivity of at least about 94%.

26. A continuous process for the reaction of a ketone with a phenol to form a bisphenol comprising

reacting a feed comprising a phenol, a ketone and a first concentration of water in the presence of an ion exchange resin catalyst at a first flow rate to produce an effluent; and

reacting a feed comprising a phenol, a ketone and a second concentration of water in the presence of the ion exchange resin catalyst at a second flow rate to produce an effluent, wherein the reaction at the first flow rate has a para—para bisphenol selectivity within about 1% of the para—para bisphenol selectivity of the reaction at the second flow rate and the first concentration of water does not equal the second concentration of water.