Hydroxymethylation of Phenol Revised: A Readjusted Mathematical Model

VERÓNICA NICOLAU; DIANA ESTENOZ; GREGORIO MEIRA

INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMICAL RESEARCH

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2013 vol. 52 p. 18140 - 18152

0888-5885

The hydroxymethylation of phenol in alkaline conditions is the first step inthe synthesis of resols; that must be later cured for the production of final articles. A mathematical model for the hydroxymethylation of phenol is presented. It is based on the kinetic mechanism by Freeman and Lewis (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1954, 76, 2080-2087), and includes a set of side reactions. Arrhenius expressions for the 7 hydroxymethylation kinetic constants at pH 8?10, temperatures 30?57 oC, and in the absence of methanol were recalculated from the constants reported by Zavitsas et al. (J. Appl. Polym. Sci.: Part A-1 1968, 6, 2511-2559), in order to take into consideration the hydration/dehydration of formaldehyde and other side reactions. The model adequately predicts the measurements in the mentioned publications and in Higuchi et al. (J. Wood Sci. 1999, 45, 306-312). All the kinetic parameters were directly or indirectly taken from the literature, and were not readjusted to the measurements.