U.S. patent application number 12/293699 was filed with the patent office on 2009-09-10 for process for preparing n,n-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol.
This patent application is currently assigned to BASF Aktiengesellschaft. Invention is credited to Joachim-Thierry Anders, Frank Haese, Alfred Krause, Johann-Peter Melder, Frank-Friedrich Pape, Bernd Stein.
Application Number | 20090223805 12/293699 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38119389 |
Filed Date | 2009-09-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090223805 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Pape; Frank-Friedrich ; et
al. |
September 10, 2009 |
PROCESS FOR PREPARING N,N-DIMETHYLAMINOETHOXYETHANOL
Abstract
Processes comprising: (a) reacting dimethylamine and ethylene
oxide to form a product mixture comprising N,N-dimethylethanolamine
and N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol; (b) distilling the product
mixture to obtain a bottom fraction comprising
N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol; and (c) distilling the bottom
fraction to separate at least a portion of the
N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol from the bottom fraction; and
apparatus for carrying out said processes.
Inventors: |
Pape; Frank-Friedrich;
(Kleinniedesheim, DE) ; Krause; Alfred; (Speyer,
DE) ; Melder; Johann-Peter; (Bohl-Iggelheim, DE)
; Stein; Bernd; (Alsbach-Hahnlein, DE) ; Anders;
Joachim-Thierry; (Gonnheim, DE) ; Haese; Frank;
(Dietzenbach, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CONNOLLY BOVE LODGE & HUTZ, LLP
P O BOX 2207
WILMINGTON
DE
19899
US
|
Assignee: |
BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Ludwigshafen
DE
|
Family ID: |
38119389 |
Appl. No.: |
12/293699 |
Filed: |
March 20, 2007 |
PCT Filed: |
March 20, 2007 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2007/052629 |
371 Date: |
September 19, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
203/35 ; 202/237;
203/46 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01J 2219/00006
20130101; C07C 213/04 20130101; C07C 213/04 20130101; C07C 217/08
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
203/35 ; 203/46;
202/237 |
International
Class: |
B01D 3/14 20060101
B01D003/14; B01D 3/34 20060101 B01D003/34 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 20, 2006 |
EP |
06111382.5 |
Jul 6, 2006 |
EP |
06116712.8 |
Claims
1-10. (canceled)
11. A process comprising: (a) reacting dimethylamine and ethylene
oxide to form a product mixture comprising N,N-dimethylethanolamine
and N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol; (b) distilling the product
mixture to obtain a bottom fraction comprising
N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol; and (c) distilling the bottom
fraction to separate at least a portion of the
N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol from the bottom fraction.
12. The process according to claim 11, wherein distilling the
product mixture is carried out at a bottom temperature of 40 to
150.degree. C. and at a pressure of 5 to 1050 bar.
13. The process according to claim 11, wherein distilling the
bottom fraction comprises fractional distillation carried out in a
column.
14. The process according to claim 13, wherein the fractional
distillation is carried out at a bottom temperature of 40 to
280.degree. C. and a pressure of 1 to 1000 mbar.
15. The process according to claim 1, wherein distilling the bottom
fraction comprises fractional distillation carried out in one or
more devices selected from the group consisting of a thin-film
evaporator, a falling-film evaporator, and a short-path evaporator,
optionally in conjunction with an attached column.
16. The process according to claim 15, wherein the distillation is
carried out at a distillation temperature of 40 to 150.degree. C.
and at a pressure of 0.001 to 1 mbar.
17. The process according to claim 11, wherein phosphorous acid is
added to the distillation of the bottom fraction.
18. The process according to claim 11, further comprising
distilling the N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol obtained from the
bottom fraction over phosphorous acid.
19. An apparatus for carrying out the process according to claim
11, the apparatus comprising: (I) a tubular reactor an inlet for
the dimethylamine, an inlet for the ethylene oxide, and an outlet
for the product mixture; (II) a distillation apparatus for
enriching the N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol in the product mixture
by distillatively removing N,N-dimethylethanolamine from the
product mixture with an outlet for the bottom fraction at a bottom
of the distillation apparatus; and (III) an apparatus which is
suitable for fractional distillation and which has an inlet for the
bottom fraction at a bottom or at a side of the apparatus, and an
outlet at a top region of the apparatus for the distilled portion
of N,N-dimethylethanolamine.
20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the apparatus
(III) suitable for fractional distillation comprises a column.
21. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the apparatus
(III) suitable for fractional distillation comprises one or more
devices selected from the group consisting of a thin-film
evaporator, a falling-film evaporator, and a short-path evaporator,
optionally in conjunction with an attached column.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a process for preparing
N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol, to an apparatus for performing it
and to the use of by-products of the preparation of
N,N-dimethylaminoethanol in such a process.
[0002] 2-[2-(dimethylamino)ethoxy]ethanol
(N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol, DMAEE) is a commercially available
compound (BASF Corporation, USA), which finds use, for example, as
an intermediate in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical
ingredients or a catalyst in polyurethane preparation.
[0003] DMAEE is prepared firstly by reacting diethylene glycol with
dimethylamine over a catalyst (see, for example, EP-A 0 303 323,
JP-A 62/051646, JP-A 08/143,520 and JP-A 09/020,735), and secondly
by reacting N,N-dimethylethanolamine with ethylene oxide (see, for
example, J. G. Cannon et al., Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 62
(1973) 830 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,818).
[0004] Even though some of the processes mentioned are performed on
the industrial scale, there is still a great deal of room for
improvement, for example with regard to yields, selectivity,
reaction times or simple workup.
[0005] It is an object of the invention to provide a process for
preparing DMAEE which has advantages over the known processes at
least in some aspects.
[0006] It has now been found that DMAEE forms in industrially
utilizable amounts in the industrial preparation of
N,N-dimethylethanolamine and can be removed in a simple manner in
the purification of the N,N-dimethylethanolamine.
[0007] The invention therefore provides a process for preparing
N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol (DMAEE), wherein [0008] a)
dimethylamine and ethylene oxide are reacted, [0009] b) the
resulting product mixture of N,N-dimethylethanolamine and DMAEE is
separated by distillation to obtain a DMAEE-containing fraction as
the bottom stream, and [0010] c) DMAEE from the fraction obtained
in (b) is removed by distillation.
[0011] The invention further provides for the use of the bottom
stream of a distillation of the reaction mixture of dimethylamine
and ethylene oxide for obtaining DMAEE.
[0012] The invention likewise provides an apparatus for performing
the above-described process, comprising (I) a reactor, preferably a
tubular reactor, with inlets for dimethylamine and ethylene oxide
and an outlet for the reaction product, (II) a distillation
apparatus for enriching the DMAEE by distillatively removing
N,N-dimethylethanolamine from the reaction mixture with an outlet
for the DMAEE-containing bottom product at the bottom of the
distillation apparatus and (III) an apparatus which is suitable for
fractional distillation and has an inlet for the DMAEE-containing
reaction mixture at the bottom or at the side and an outlet for the
distilled DMAEE in the top region of the apparatus.
[0013] The process according to the invention can provide DMAEE in
a simple manner and without complicated synthesis with catalysts
and complex product mixtures. It is also advantageous that, to
obtain a color-stable pure material, hydrogenation over a noble
metal catalyst is not necessary.
[0014] The reaction of ethylene oxide and dimethylamine to give
mainly N,N-dimethylethanolamine and its process parameters are
known, and it is used on the industrial scale for the preparation
of N,N-dimethylethanolamine. Details of this reaction step are
described, for example, in DE-A 44 14 879.
[0015] The reaction mixture formed comprises generally from 1 to 6%
by weight, preferably from 2 to 3% by weight, of DMAEE.
[0016] The DMAEE formed is removed by distillation from the main
component, N,N-dimethylethanolamine, advantageously with a column
operated continuously or batchwise within a temperature range
(bottom) of from 40.degree. C. to 150.degree. C., preferably from
40.degree. C. to 90.degree. C., and at a pressure of from 5 to 1050
mbar, preferably from 5 to 300 mbar, more preferably from 10 to 150
mbar.
[0017] DMAEE is enriched in the bottom stream of this column.
[0018] To obtain pure DMAEE, the collected bottom stream is
therefore fractionally distilled in a subsequent step.
[0019] Suitable column types for this distillation are all known
column types, for example columns with random packing, tray
columns, columns with structured packing and dividing wall columns.
Preference is given to columns with structured packing and dividing
wall columns. In a further preferred embodiment of the process,
DMAEE is distilled at relatively low pressures, for example in a
thin-film evaporator, falling-film evaporator or short-path
evaporator, or one of the latter apparatuses with attached column
of any type, for example a column with structured packing.
[0020] The fractional distillation in a column is effected
generally within a temperature range (bottom) of from 40 to
250.degree. C., preferably from 135 to 235.degree. C., in
particular from 170 to 200.degree. C. The distillation is generally
performed under reduced pressure, preferably within a range of from
1 to 1000 mbar, preferably from 100 to 500 mbar, more preferably
400 mbar. The reflux ratio is generally from approx. 1.5:1 (reflux
to withdrawal) to 5:1.
[0021] In the further preferred embodiment of the process in a
thin-film evaporator, falling-film evaporator or short-path
evaporator, the distillation is effected at distillation
temperatures of from 40 to 150.degree. C., preferably from 40 to
100.degree. C., and under a pressure of from 0.001 to 1 mbar,
preferably from 0.01 to 0.1 mbar.
[0022] It is known to the person skilled in the art that relatively
low distillation temperatures are possible with very good vacuum
and the product can be distilled more gently as a result. In this
distillation, it was found that, surprisingly, the DMAEE product
remains stable even under relatively severe distillation conditions
(see table 1) and could be isolated with very good yields and
purities.
[0023] The DMAEE obtained in this step generally has a purity of
.gtoreq.98%, preferably .gtoreq.99%, and a APHA color number of
<70, preferably <20 APHA (see table 1). The secondary
components present are mainly small amounts of glycol,
viny-loxyethanol and N,N-dimethylethanolamine, and slight
discoloration, which is reestablished even after the distillation,
is attributable essentially to traces of vinyloxyethanol.
[0024] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, vinyloxyethanol
is therefore removed from DMAEE or destroyed by adding phosphorous
acid, H.sub.3PO.sub.3.
[0025] In this case, either the DMAEE obtained in step c) can be
subjected to a further distillation in which phosphorous acid is
added, or the phosphorous acid is added actually in the course of
the fractional distillation.
[0026] It is possible to use the phosphorous acid in crystalline
form or as a mixture of phosphorous acid and water. Both
crystalline material and aqueous solutions are commercially
available (for example from Supresta or Honeywell).
[0027] Preference is given to the addition of a mixture of
phosphorous acid and water, more preferably in a weight ratio of
1:10 to 10:1, in particular of 1:1. In general, from 0.01 to 10
parts by weight, preferably from 0.25 to 1 part by weight, of
phosphorous acid per 25 parts by weight of the mixture to be
distilled are used.
[0028] The above-described advantage that DMAEE remains stable even
at relatively high temperatures in the distillation is utilized
especially in this preferred embodiment of the process because
phosphorous acid H.sub.3PO.sub.3 is particularly active for the
destruction of vinyloxyethanol (VOE) at elevated temperature. This
reaction proceeds particularly advantageously at from 150.degree.
C. to 200.degree. C. Especially at from 180.degree. C. to
190.degree. C., relatively small amounts of H.sub.3PO.sub.3 are
required. For this reason, a distillation at from 400 to 600 mbar
is particularly advantageous, because a bottom temperature of from
175 to 200.degree. C., preferably from 180 to 190.degree. C., is
then established in the distillation.
[0029] In both variants, the distillation mixture is heat-treated
with full reflux at a temperature of from 175 to 200.degree. C.,
preferably from 180 to 190.degree. C. and a pressure of from 400 to
600 mbar, preferably about 500 mbar, preferably for from 1 to 3 h,
in particular about 2 h.
[0030] When the vinyloxyethanol is removed or destroyed in a
separate distillation, this is preferably performed by means of a
tray column, column with random packing, column with structured
packing or dividing wall column, more preferably a column with
structured packing or a dividing wall column under the pressure and
temperature conditions specified above.
[0031] Further secondary components can be removed by known methods
familiar to those skilled in the art; for example, the main
secondary component glycol can be removed, for example, as a
high-boiling acetal by adding a suitable higher aldehyde.
[0032] The resulting DMAEE is suitable, for example, as an
intermediate for the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients
or a catalyst in polyurethane preparation.
[0033] The invention is illustrated in detail by the examples
without thereby restricting it.
EXAMPLE 1
Distillation of the Bottom Stream of a Column for Removing
N,N-Dimethylethanolamine
[0034] The crude product of the industrial scale reaction of
dimethylamine and ethylene oxide is subjected to a distillation to
remove N,N-dimethylethanolamine.
[0035] The bottom residue of the column has the following
composition in GC area %:
TABLE-US-00001 Glycol: 6% Vinyloxyethanol: 4%
N,N-dimethylethanolamine: 16% Dimethylaminoethoxyethanol: 74%
[0036] 918 g of this residue were subjected to a distillation by
means of a 1 m column with random packing (diameter: 60 mm, random
packings: 3.times.3 mm). The result is shown in table 1.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 1 Distillation Fraction Fr. 1 Fr. 2 Fr. 3 Fr.
4 Fr. 5 Fr. 6 Fr. 7 Fr. 8 Color number 11 APHA 7 APHA 26.5 APHA
25.5 APHA 7 APHA 5 APHA 13 APHA 68 APHA Weight in g 21 84 66 81 120
128 133 143 Bottom T in .degree. C. 135-142 170-178 178-182 182
182-183 183 174-176 196-235 Distillation T in .degree. C. 66-70
98-106 158-160 160 158-159 155-156 165-167 165-112 Pressure in mbar
125-123 415-424 436-426 426-422 421 420-418 308-312 312-35
Reflux/efflux 05:02 05:02 10:01 10:02 10:02 10:02 04:02 03:02
Composition GC area % Glycol 0.00 0.00 29.53 38.85 31.92 0.37 0.00
0.00 Vinyloxyethanol 0.02 30.17 18.59 0.28 0.18 0.21 0.05 0.04
Dimethylethanolamine 99.98 69.83 6.61 0.17 0.11 0.15 0.06 0.08
DMAEE 0.00 0.00 45.27 60.7 67.79 99.27 99.89 99.88 Total % 100.00
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 Residue 94 g 29.26
49.13 81.07 124.99 131.87 141.70
[0037] The dimethylaminoethoxyethanol obtained in fractions 6 to 8
corresponded to an isolated yield of about 72%. The starting
material was very dark in color. The distillation improved the
color number significantly.
EXAMPLE 2
Distillation over H.sub.3PO.sub.3
[0038] From the distillation of example 1, fractions 6 and 7 were
combined and 250 g thereof were mixed with a mixture of 2.5 g of
distilled water and 2.5 g of phosphorous acid H.sub.3PO.sub.3. The
homogeneous mixture was heat-treated at 185.degree. C. for 2 hours
and then distilled by means of a 20 cm column at 500 mbar and
182-184.degree. C.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 2 Distillation over H.sub.3PO.sub.3 (Fr. 6 +
Fr. 7) Distillate Color number (APHA) 19 0 Composition GC area %
Glycol 0.20 0.26 Vinyloxyethanol 0.13 0.00 Dimethylethanolamine
0.12 0.08 DMAEE 99.55 99.66 Total % 100.00 100.00
[0039] The treatment with phosphorous acid and subsequent
distillation virtually quantitatively affords colorless
N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol (DMAEE) which, by GC, no longer
comprises any vinyloxyethanol.
EXAMPLE 3
[0040] Combination of distillation and removal of vinyloxyethanol
in a single step.
[0041] In a column with random packing (length: 1 m, diameter: 60
mm, 3.times.3 mm random packings, reflux divider, approx. 30
theoretical plates), 250 g of a crude material with the following
composition were introduced into the still: 6.85% Glycol, 4.50%
vinyloxyethanol, 15.20% dimethylethanolamine, 70.70%
N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol (DMAEE), 0.08% (dimethylaminoethyl)
vinyl ether.
[0042] The 250 g of the crude material were mixed with a mixture of
10 g of distilled water and 10 g of phosphorous acid. The bottom
temperature in the column was adjusted to 145.degree. C. with full
reflux, and heating to reflux was continued for 2 h. After these 2
hours, a sample was taken from the column bottoms and the following
composition was found:
[0043] 0.01% vinyloxyethanol, 0.1% methanol, 1.69% methyldioxalane,
2.50% glycol, 6.44% N,N-dimethylethanolamine (DMEOA), 1.78%
N-ethyl-N-methylethanolamine and 74.30%
N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol (DMAEE).
[0044] Subsequently, fractional distillation was effected at column
pressure 500 mbar, a ratio of reflux to efflux of approx. 5:1-2:1,
bottom temperature 180.degree. C. and distillation temperature
30-72.degree. C., then 72-150.degree. C. Approx. 25% first runnings
were removed, which consisted especially of methyldioxalane,
N-methylmorpholine, N,N-dimethylethanolamine (DMEOA) and
glycol.
[0045] Subsequently, the vacuum was lowered to 100 mbar, and
distillation was continued at a bottom temperature of 138.degree.
C. rising up to 200-250.degree. C., a constant distillation
temperature of 130.degree. C. and a ratio of reflux to efflux of
4:5. The pure product was obtained in a purity of 77-99%; the
vinyloxyethanol (VOE) content in all pure fractions was
significantly less than 0.1%. 145 g of the
N,N-dimethylaminoethoxyethanol (DMAEE) product of value were
obtained; this corresponds to approx. 82% yield based on the DMAEE
present in the crude material (176 g) and 58% yield based on the
total mass of the crude material used at the outset (250 g).
* * * * *