Bisphenol Alternative Derived From Renewable Substituted Phenolics
Over fivemillion metric tons of bisphenol A (BPA) are produced annually for thesynthesis of plastics, such as epoxy resins, vinyl ester resins, andpolycarbonates. BPA is a known endocrine disruptor and can cause adverse healtheffects at doses lower than the safety exposure limit of 50 µg/kg bodyweight/day. This invention describes a process to synthesize renewable BPAalternatives and novel polymer systems derived from substituted phenoliccompounds. These BPA alternatives can be derived from renewable resources suchas those obtained from lignin and are designed to reduce endocrine disruptionrelative to BPA. The substituted phenols derived from lignin via fast pyrolysisinclude vanillin, vanillyl alcohol, creosol, guaiacol, and cresol. Bisguaiacolcompounds are synthesized through the reaction of vanillyl alcohol with othersubstituted phenols using a solid acid catalyst in a biphasic system. The feedcomposition can be varied to provide control over the production of isomers.Pure bisguaiacol components are recovered by extraction and recrystallizationfrom hexanes. An example of synthesizing bisguaiacol F (BGF) from vanillylalcohol and guaiacol is shown in the figure below.
United States
Patent Pending
USA
