Alkylation of 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol with methyl acrylate catalyzed by potassium 2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxide

The kinetics of catalytic alkylation of 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol (ArOH) with methyl acrylate (MA) in the presence of potassium 2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxide (ArOK) depends on the method for the preparation of ArOK. The reaction of ArOH with KOH at temperatures > 180 °C affords monomeric ArOK, whose properties differ from those in the case of potassium 2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxide synthesized by the earlier methods. The regularities of ArOH alkylation depend on the ArOK concentration, the ArOH: MA ratio, and the effect of microadditives of polar solvents. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 1971–1974, October, 2007.