James Douglas Ragan

US Patent:

58012699, Sep 1, 1998

Filed:

Apr 30, 1997

Appl. No.:

8/848367

Inventors:

Carrie A. Feeney - Bridgewater NJ
Ida L. Jones - Charlotte NC
Bennett C. Ward - Koenigstein, DE
Thomas M. Kenesson - Corpus Christi TX
Charles B. Hilton - Corpus Christi TX
Michael R. Ahern - Bayonne NJ
Gregory M. Adams - Corpus Christi TX
Edward M. de la Garza - Corpus Christi TX
B. Frank Wood - Corpus Christi TX
Thomas L. Grantland - San Antonio TX
Kan J. Tsai - Corpus Christi TX
James L. Ragan - Corpus Christi TX

Assignee:

Hoechst Celanese Corp. - Somerville NJ

International Classification:

C07C 6748

US Classification:

560 78

Abstract:

Processes for recovering 4,4'-dimethyl bibenzoate (DMBB) from byproduct streams of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) production are disclosed. The byproduct streams are treated to produce an overhead stream which includes DMBB. In one aspect of the invention, the overhead product stream is added to an organic solvent under conditions sufficient to rapidly form a suspension of crystallized DMBB. In another aspect of the invention, the overhead is dissolved in an appropriate organic solvent and cooled to form a suspension of DMBB crystals in the solvent. A portion of the suspension is removed, and the remaining portion of the suspension centrifuged to recover DMBB crystals. In still another aspect of the invention, the overhead stream is treated with an organic solvent to form a slurry of DMBB crystals, and the resultant slurry thermally treated to increase the concentration of DMBB crystals therein while also solubilizing any organic contaminants.