Granted Patent B2

US 8,008,524 · App. 12/286,587 · Granted Aug 30, 2011

Abstract

Claims (35)

1. A process for the preparation of an aqueous solution of a salt of a thiocarboxylic acid which comprises reacting an aqueous solution of a sulfide and/or hydrosulfide with an acid halide and/or acid anhydride in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst to provide the aqueous solution of thiocarboxylic acid salt, wherein the structures of the sulfide, hydrosulfide, acid halide and acid anhydride are represented by the formulae:

M2S  (6)

MSH  (7)

GI(-Y-L)a  (8)

wherein

each occurrence of M is an alkali metal; ammonium; or a mono-, di-, or tri-substituted ammonium;

each occurrence of L is a halogen atom, sulfonate group, sulfinate group, or carboxylate group; Y is carbonyl, C(═O);

each occurrence of R is chosen independently from the set of groups comprising hydrogen, alkyl groups, alkenyl groups, alkynyl groups, aryl groups and aralkyl groups with each R containing from 0 to about 30 carbon atoms;

each occurrence of G 1 is independently R or a polyvalent group derived from an alkyl, alkenyl, aryl or aralkyl group, containing from 1 to about 40 carbon atoms,

each occurrence of the subscript a is independently an integer from 1 to 6 and wherein the phase transfer catalyst is represented by the formula:

(R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 Q + ) n A −n   (9)

wherein

each separate occurrence of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 , is, independently, an R, wherein R is a hydrogen, an alkyl, an alkenyl, an alkynyl, an aryl or an aralkyl containing from 0 to about 30 carbon atoms; Q is nitrogen or phosphorus; and A −n is a monovalent or polyvalent anion where the minus sign denotes that the species is an anion, and n denotes the number of negative charges on the anion; and, wherein the subscript n is a positive integer of from 1 to about 6.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein M is selected from the group consisting of sodium, potassium, ammonium, methyl ammonium and triethyl ammonium.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein L is selected from the group consisting of chloride, bromide, sulfonate, sulfate, phosphate or carboxylate.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are, independently, selected form the group consisting of straight and branched chain alkyls.

5. The process of claim 4 wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are, independently, selected from the group consisting of methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, hexyl, octyl, decyl, dodecyl, tetradecyl, octadecyl, phenyl, benzyl, tolyl, cyclohexyl, methylcyclohexyl and allyl.

6. The process of claim 4 wherein A −n is selected from the group consisting of fluoride, chloride, bromide, iodide, sulfate, bisulfate, carbonate, bicarbonate, hydroxide, phosphate, carboxylate, thiocarboxylate, sulfide and hydrosulfide.

7. The process of claim 5 wherein A −n is selected from the group consisting of fluoride, chloride, bromide, iodide, sulfate, bisulfate, carbonate, bicarbonate, hydroxide, phosphate, carboxylate, thiocarboxylate, sulfide and hydrosulfide.

8. The process of claim 1 wherein the phase transfer catalyst is selected from the group consisting of tetramethylammonium chloride, tetramethylammonium bromide, tetramethylammonium iodide, tetramethylammonium hydroxide, tetraethylammonium chloride, tetraethylammonium bromide, tetraethylammonium iodide, tetraethylammonium hydroxide, tetrabutylammonium chloride, tetrabutylammonium bromide, tetrabutylammonium iodide, tetrabutylammonium hydroxide, methyltributylammonium chloride, methyltributylammonium bromide, methyltributylammonium iodide, methyltributylammonium hydroxide, tetraoctylammonium chloride, tetraoctylammonium bromide, tetraoctylammonium iodide, tetraoctylammonium hydroxide, methyltrioctylammonium chloride, methyltrioctylammonium bromide, methyltrioctylammonium iodide, methyltrioctylammonium hydroxide, benzyltrimethylammonium chloride, benzyltrimethylammonium bromide, benzyltriethylammonium chloride, benzyltributylammonium chloride, dibenzyldimethylammonium chloride, dibenzyldimethylammonium bromide, dibenzyldiethylammonium chloride, dibenzyldibutylammonium chloride, tetrabutylphosphonium bromide, tetrabutylphosphonium chloride, trioctyl (octadecyl) phosphonium iodide, tributyl (tetradecyl) phosphonium chloride, combinations thereof and aqueous solutions thereof.

9. The process of claim 1 carried out in a batch operation at from about 10° C. to about 40° C. and from about 20° C. to about 50° C. in a continuous operation.

10. The process of claim 1 carried out in batch operation at from about 20° C. to about 25° C. and in continuous operation at from about 25° C. to about 40° C.

11. The process of claim 1 wherein the molar ratio of sulfide and/or hydrosulfide to acid chloride and/or acid anhydride is from about 2:1 to about 3:1.

12. The process of claim 1 wherein the molar ratio of sulfide and/or hydrosulfide to acid chloride and/or acid anhydride is from about 2:1 to about 2.2:1.

13. The process of claim 1 wherein the concentration of sulfide and/or hydrosulfide in the aqueous solution thereof ranges from about 10 to about 40 weight percent.

14. The process of claim 1 wherein the concentration of sulfide and/or hydrosulfide in the aqueous solution thereof ranges from about 15 to about 25 weight percent.

15. The process of claim 1 which comprises reacting alkali metal hydrosulfide with alkanoyl halide in the presence of phase transfer catalyst and under agitation to provide an aqueous solution of alkali metal thiolalkanoate containing phase transfer catalyst.

16. The process of claim 1 conducted under agitation of sufficient vigor as to provide product thiocarboxylic acid salt of at least about 95 weight percent purity based on the total weight of all the reaction products.

17. The process of claim 16 wherein agitation is provided by a rotary stirrer operating at a tip speed of at least about 30 in/sec.

18. The process of claim 9 conducted under agitation of sufficient vigor as to provide product thiocarboxylic acid salt of at least about 95 weight percent purity based on the total weight of all the reaction products.

19. The process of claim 18 wherein agitation is provided by a rotary stirrer operating at a tip speed of at least about 30 in/sec.

20. The process of claim 15 wherein the reaction temperature is maintained within the range of from about 10° C. to about 40° C. for a batch operation and from about 20° C. to about 50° C. for a continuous operation and agitation is such as to provide thiocarboxylic acid salt of at least about 95 weight percent purity based on the total weight of all the reaction products.

21. The process of claim 20 wherein the alkali metal hydrosulfide is sodium hydrosulfide, the alkanoyl halide is octanoyl chloride, the phase transfer catalyst is tetrabutylammonium bromide and the salt of thiocarboxylic acid is sodium thiooctanoate.

22. The process of claim 20 wherein the salt of thiocarboxylic acid in aqueous solution and containing phase transfer catalyst is reacted with haloalkyl silane to provide thiocarboxylate silane.

23. The process of claim 21 wherein the sodium thiooctanoate in aqueous solution and containing tetrabutylammonium bromide phase transfer agent is reacted with 3-chloro-1-propytriethoxysilane to provide 3-octanoylthio-1-propytriethoxysilane.

Assignments (22)