Process for preparing divinylarene dioxides

1. A process for preparing a divinylarene dioxide comprising the steps of:

(a) reacting a divinylarene with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a catalyst and in the presence of an organic modifier to form a divinylarene dioxide; wherein the hydrogen peroxide is present in an excess or an equivalent mole ratio per mole of vinyl group; wherein the organic modifier is a Lewis base; and wherein the divinylarene dioxide is produced at a yield of greater than 30 percent yield; and

(b) reducing the organic modifier concentration in the divinylarene dioxide produced in step (a); wherein the concentration of the organic modifier in the divinylarene dioxide is reduced to about 5 weight percent or less.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the reaction is carried out at a mole ratio of hydrogen peroxide:divinylarene dioxide of at least 2 or more.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein hydrogen peroxide is generated in-situ using hydrogen and oxygen; or wherein hydrogen peroxide is generated in-situ using an anthraquinone/tetrahydroanthraquinone process in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst.

4. The process of claim 3 , wherein the hydrogenation catalyst comprises palladium; alumina; Raney nickel; or mixtures thereof.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst is selected from the group consisting of a titanium dioxide-gold catalyst; a gold catalyst supported on a non-porous and mesoporous titania-silica; a metal oxide; a transition metal complex; and a heteropolyacid.

6. The process of claim 5 , wherein the silica component of the catalyst is selected from the group consisting of natural zeolites, synthetic zeolites, and mixtures thereof.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the divinylarene is divinylbenzene; and wherein the divinylarene dioxide formed is divinylbenzene dioxide.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the reaction is carried out at a temperature within the range of from about 5° C. to about 80° C.

9. The process of claim 1 wherein the catalyst is selected from the group consisting of methyltrioxorhenium; a cobalt salen complex; a manganese salen complex; a manganese-chelant complex; an iron-chelant complex; an iron porphyrin; a manganese porphyrin; and a phosphotungstic acid ammonium salt.

10. The process of claim 9 , wherein the chelant of the manganese complex or the iron complex is pyridine or a ring annulated pyridine compound with at least one or more additional coordinating groups on any of the rings.

11. The process of claim 10 , wherein the coordinating groups comprise hydroxyl or thiol groups.

12. The process of claim 9 including salen chelants originating from alkyl, aryl, o-alkyl, O-aryl or halogen substituted salicylic aldehyde.

13. The process of claim 9 , wherein the ammonium ion comprises tetrabutyl ammonium salts; ammonium salts with one or two long alkyl chains having longer than C8 chains; methyl pyridinium groups, benzyl pyridinium groups, cetylpyridinium groups; or mixtures thereof.

14. The process of claim 9 , wherein the catalyst is immobilized on a solid support.

15. The process of claim 14 , wherein the solid support comprises zeolites, clays, silica, alumina, or polymers.

16. The process of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of said catalyst ranges from about 0.001 weight percent to about 5 weight percent; wherein the concentration of said divinylarene ranges from about 1 weight percent to about 100 weight percent; and wherein the hydrogen peroxide concentration ranges from about 0.1 weight percent to about 100 weight percent.

17. The process of claim 1 including a solvent; wherein the solvent comprises chlorinated hydrocarbons; aromatic hydrocarbons; polar solvents; ethers; alcohols; fluorinated alcohols; or mixtures thereof.

18. The process of claim 17 , wherein the chlorinated hydrocarbons comprise dichloromethane or dichloroethane; wherein the aromatic hydrocarbons comprise benzene or toluene; wherein the polar solvents comprise dimethyl formamide; wherein the ethers comprises tetrahydrofuran; or wherein the alcohols or fluorinated alcohols comprise i-amylalcohol or trifluoroethanol.

19. The process of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of said solvent ranges from 0.01 weight percent to about 99 weight percent.

20. The process of claim 1 , wherein the Lewis base is selected from the group consisting of an N-oxide, acetic acid, salts of acetic acid, and mixtures thereof.

21. The process of claim 20 , wherein the Lewis base is selected from the group consisting of pyrazole, pyridine, pyrrolidine, bipyridine, imidazole, benzylamine, diisopropylamine, a Lewis base containing an alkyl or an aryl group and mixtures thereof.

22. The process of claim 20 , wherein the N-oxide is pyridine-N-oxide.

23. The process of claim 1 , wherein after the reaction step, the resulting divinylarene dioxide reaction product is isolated and purified.

24. The process of claim 23 , wherein the divinylarene dioxide reaction product is purified by distillation.

25. The process of claim 10 , wherein the coordinating groups are 8-hydroxyquinoline.

26. The process of claim 10 , wherein the coordinating groups are carboxylic acid groups.

27. The process of claim 26 , wherein the coordinating groups are 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid.

28. The process of claim 10 , wherein the coordinating groups are iminium groups wherein the carbon atom in the iminium groups can be an alkyl, an aryl, an O-alkyl, an O-aryl, a N-alkyl, a N-aryl, a S-alkyl or a S-aryl group.

29. The process of claim 10 , wherein the coordinating groups are an imine nitrogen, an alkyl group or an aryl group.

30. The process of claim 9 including diamines selected from the group consisting of ethylene diamine; 1,2 cyclohexyl diamine: 1,2-phenylenediamine; and diamines substituted with alkyl, aryl or halogen.

31. The process of claim 15 , wherein the polymer solid support is selected from the group consisting of polyglycerol, polystyrene, polymethacrylates, dendrimers, and polyvinyl-pyridine.