GB467817A - A process for preparing plastic masses - Google Patents

Abstract

Plastic masses are obtained by condensing substances of alicyclic nature, which have as substituents one or more benzene nuclei, a total of at least two phenolic hydroxyl groups and more than two particularly reactive positions unoccupied, with formaldehyde in the presence of strong alkalies and preferably at low temperature during a long period of time and subsequently converting the condensation products with or without plasticizers and fillers into the insoluble, infusible form. The alicyclic substances are obtained by reacting terpenes, terpene-like substances or compounds readily convertible into terpenes or terpene-like compounds with phenols. Suitable terpene or terpene-like substances include alicyclic terpenes, sesquiterpenes and polyterpenes, acyclic olefinic terpenes or terpenogenes, tertiary terpene alcohols, American oil of turpentine rich in pinene, dipentene, camphor, oil of camphor, conifer oils, resin balsam, colophony or its esters, tall oil, resin or copal oils obtained by fusing or running of natural resins. The alicyclic compound may be condensed with the phenol by such processes as Friedel-Crafts, Koenig, or Schrauth's syntheses. Phenols that may be used include phenol, substituted phenols, polyoxybenzenes, polyoxynaphthalenes and polyoxydiphenyls. The resinous products may be worked up in conjunction with phenolformaldehyde resins derived from other phenols, natural resins, metal resinates, or if desired phenols for producing the phenol-formaldehyde resin may be present during the manufacture of the condensation product from the alicyclic substituted phenol. In examples: (1) diphenylolmenthane is condensed with formaldehyde in the presence of sodium hydroxide, castor oil added if desired, neutralized and precipitated by acid and the dried pulverized product heated; (2) a triphenylolmenthane, prepared by chlorinating diphenylolmenthane in solution in carbon disulphide or carbon tetrachloride, is reacted with phenol in the presence of metal halides and the product, in solution in toluene, is condensed with formaldehyde in the presence of caustic soda to yield a condensation product which is hardened by heat; (3) a terpenephenol, obtained by condensing with phenol an American pine oil which has been saturated with hydrochloric acid, the excess phenol being removed or converted into substituted phenols by, for example, the action of acetone, is condensed with formaldehyde and worked up with castor oil as in example 1; (4) a terpene-phenol, obtained by condensing phenol with dipentene or dipentene hydrochlorides in the presence of hydrochloric acid or zinc chloride is condensed with formaldehyde and worked up if desired with castor oil or a drying oil; (5) phenol is condensed with geraniol that has been saturated with hydrochloric acid in the presence of zinc chloride and the substituted phenol condensed with formaldehyde; (6) a mixture of pyrocatechol and copal oil is treated with hydrochloric acid in the presence of zinc chloride and the product is condensed with formaldehyde. Specifications 334,572, [Class 2 (iii)], 417,122, and 467,816 are referred to.