Method for producing tertiary amides of alkylphenyl carboxylic acids

1. A process for preparing a tertiary amide of an alkylphenylcarboxylic acid comprising the steps of reacting at least one secondary amine with at least one alkylphenylcarboxylic acid to give an ammonium salt, and subsequently converting this ammonium salt further under microwave irradiation to the tertiary amide.

2. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the alkylphenylcarboxylic acid bears at least one C 1 - to C 20 -alkyl radical.

3. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the alkylphenylcarboxylic acid is selected from the group consisting of: o-toluic acid, m-toluic acid, p-toluic acid, o-ethylbenzoic acid, m-ethylbenzoic acid, p-ethylbenzoic acid, o-propylbenzoic acid, m-propylbenzoic acid, p-propylbenzoic acid and 3,4-dimethylbenzoic acid.

4. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the amine is of the formula

HNR 1 R 2

wherein R 1 and R 2 are each independently C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, C 5 -C 12 -cycloalkyl or C 7 -C 30 -aralkyl, or are each polyoxyalkylene radicals of the formula

—(B—O) m —R 3

wherein

B is a linear or branched C 2 -C 4 -alkylene radical,

m is from 1 to 100, and

R 3 is hydrogen, an alkyl radical having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a cycloalkyl radical having 5 to 12 ring atoms, an aryl radical having 6 to 12 ring atoms, an aralkyl radical having 7 to 30 carbon atoms, a heteroaryl radical having 5 to 12 ring atoms or a heteroaralkyl radical having 6 to 12 carbon atoms.

5. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the microwave irradiation is performed in the presence of a dehydrating catalyst.

6. The process as claimed in claim 1 , performed in the presence of a solvent.

7. The process as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the solvent has a dielectric loss value of less than 10.

8. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the reaction temperature is below 330° C.

9. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the reaction is performed at a pressure between 0.1 and 200 bar.

10. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the reaction is effected continuously by irradiating with microwaves in a reaction tube through which the ammonium salt flows.

11. The process as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the reaction tube consists of a nonmetallic microwave-transparent material.

12. The process as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the residence time of the reaction mixture in the reaction tube is less than 30 minutes.

13. The process as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the reaction tube has a ratio of length to diameter of at least 5.

14. The process as claimed in claim 4 , wherein B is a group of the formula —CH 2 —CH 2 — and/or —CH(CH 3 )—CH 2 —.

15. The process as claimed in claim 4 , wherein m is from 2 to 20.