GB467970A - Improvement in production of morphaline alkanols - Google Patents

Abstract

A morpholine alkanol is produced by hydrolyzing a morpholine alkyl vinyl ether and isolating the product thus obtained, preferably using acid hydrolytic agents and decomposing the morpholine alkanol salt by alkali. A morpholine alkanol may also be isolated from a mixture of amines obtained by reacting a b b <1>-dihalogenated dialkyl ether with ammonia or with a morpholine, preferably at super-atmospheric pressures, the reaction mixture being maintained alkaline during the reaction, treating the reaction mixture with a solution of caustic alkali, concentrating the product thus obtained, preferably in acid solution, and separating therefrom an amine layer, by fractionally separating said layer and collecting the fraction containing the morpholine ethanol. The isolation of the morpholine alkanol from the mixture of amines may be effected by fractional crystallization or fractional distillation, if desired under reduced pressure, and the reaction mixture referred to may be maintained alkaline during the reaction by excess of ammonia or the morpholine, or by caustic alkali. In examples, b b <1>-dichlordiethyl ether is reacted with excess ammonia under pressure, and the alkali-treated reaction mixture is then worked up by distilling off the free amines, extracting the residue with benzene, and either adding the benzene extract to the amine distillate, refractionating, and collecting the fraction boiling from 215 to 235 DEG C. under atmospheric pressure or adding hydrochloric acid to the amine distillate, concentrating by evaporation, treating the residue with sodium hydroxide, separating the amine layer so obtained from the caustic layer, extracting the latter with benzene and fractionating the combined benzene extracts, collecting the fraction boiling at 203--235 DEG C. under atmospheric pressure. Also in further examples, the dimethyl morpholine ethyl vinyl ether, produced according to example 5 of Specification 462,383 is boiled with excess concentrated hydrochloric acid, and morpholine ethanol vinyl ether is boiled with 30 per cent sulphuric acid, the morpholine ethanols being isolated by treatment with alkali and fractionation. Specification 457,481 also is referred to. The Specification as open to inspection under Sect. 91 refers to the catalytic vapour phase hydrogenation of morpholine alkyl vinyl ethers to form morpholine alkyl ethers, at a temperature above the boiling point of the ether being produced. This subject-matter does not appear in the Specification as accepted.