PURPOSE: To readily and economically produce bis(hydroxyphenyl)methanes useful as a raw material for epoxy resins, by reacting phenol with formaldehyde using activated clay as a catalyst.
CONSTITUTION: Phenol is reacted with formaldehyde using activated clay obtained by chemically treating acid clay which is a montmorillonite based clay as a catalyst to afford bis (hydroxyphenyl)methanes. The amount of the activated clay used is preferably 0.2W3.0wt.% based on the phenol. A colorless product with ≤10wt.% content of tri- or polynuclear substances is obtained even if the molar ratio of the phenol/formaldehyde is about 20 times by using this catalyst, which can be used in apparatuses of ordinary materials, such as stainless steel, and readily removed from the reaction mixture by operation, such as filtration after the reaction without requiring any operation, such as neutralization with alkali, at all.
IWANE HIROSHI
SUGAWARA TAKAHIRO
OTAKA SATOSHI
