Tertiary amine catalysts having isocyanate reactive groups capable of forming thermally stable covalent bonds able to withstand temperatures from 120° C. and higher and up to 250° C. are disclosed. These catalyst can be used to produce polyurethane foam having the following desirable characteristics: a) very low chemical emissions over a wide range of environmental conditions and isocyanate indexes (e.g., indexes as low as 65 but higher than 60); b) sufficient hydrolytic stability to maintain the catalyst covalently bound to foam without leaching of tertiary amine catalyst when foam is exposed to water or aqueous solutions even at temperatures higher than ambient (temperature range 25° C. to 90° C.); and c) stable contact interface between the polyurethane polymer and other polymers (for example polycarbonate) with minimal migration of tertiary amine catalyst from polyurethane polymer to other polymers yielding no noticeable polymer deterioration at the point of contact even under conditions of heat and humidity.

Trimethylhexamethylenediamine is produced by hydrogenating a trimethylhexamethylenedinitrile-comprising mixture in the presence of at least ammonia and hydrogen and a catalyst in the presence or absence of solvent, wherein the catalyst has the following properties: I. after activation the catalyst in its entirety has the following composition in weight percent (wt %), wherein the proportions add up to 100 wt %, based on the metals present: cobalt: 55 to 95 wt %, aluminum: 5 to 45 wt %, chromium: 0 to 3 wt %, and nickel: 0 to 7 wt %, and II. the catalyst is present in the form of irregular particles as granulate and after activation has particle sizes of 1 to 8 mm.

Trimethylhexamethylenediamine is produced by hydrogenating a trimethylhexamethylenedinitrile-comprising mixture in the presence of at least ammonia and hydrogen and a catalyst in the presence or absence of solvent, wherein the catalyst has the following properties: I. after activation the catalyst in its entirety has the following composition in weight percent (wt %), wherein the proportions add up to 100 wt %, based on the metals present: cobalt: 55 to 95 wt %, aluminum: 5 to 45 wt %, chromium: 0 to 3 wt %, and nickel: 0 to 7 wt %, and II. the catalyst is present in the form of irregular particles as granulate and after activation has particle sizes of 1 to 8 mm.

Trimethylhexamethylenediamine is produced by hydrogenating a trimethylhexamethylenedinitrile-comprising mixture in the presence of at least ammonia and hydrogen and a catalyst in the presence or absence of solvent, wherein the catalyst has the following properties: I. after activation the catalyst in its entirety has the following composition in weight percent (wt %), wherein the proportions add up to 100 wt %, based on the metals present: cobalt: 55 to 95 wt %, aluminum: 5 to 45 wt %, chromium: 0 to 3 wt %, and nickel: 0 to 7 wt %, and II. the catalyst is present in the form of irregular particles as granulate and after activation has particle sizes of 1 to 8 mm.

The present invention relates to a process for purifying ethylenediamine (EDA) by distillation, wherein the process comprises the steps a) and b). In step a), a mixture (G1) comprising water, EDA and N-methylethylenediamine (N-MeEDA) is fed into a distillation apparatus (D1), and the major part of the water comprised in the mixture (G1) is separated off overhead at a pressure of greater than 4.8 bara. From the bottom of (D1), the water-enriched mixture (G2) is fed into a distillation apparatus (D2) in step b). At the top of (D2), the major part of the N-MeEDA is distilled off. The stream (S3) obtained from the bottom of (D2) comprises EDA, with the components water and N-MeEDA comprised in the mixture (G1) having been largely or completely removed. Further distillation steps can optionally be carried out in order to obtain pure EDA, for example when diethylenetriamine (DETA) is additionally comprised in the mixture (G1). If ammonia is additionally comprised in the mixture (G1), an ammonia removal is preferably additionally carried out before carrying out the step a) in the process of the invention.

The present invention relates to a process for purifying ethylenediamine (EDA) by distillation, wherein the process comprises the steps a) and b). In step a), a mixture (G1) comprising water, EDA and N-methylethylenediamine (N-MeEDA) is fed into a distillation apparatus (D1), and the major part of the water comprised in the mixture (G1) is separated off overhead at a pressure of greater than 4.8 bara. From the bottom of (D1), the water-enriched mixture (G2) is fed into a distillation apparatus (D2) in step b). At the top of (D2), the major part of the N-MeEDA is distilled off. The stream (S3) obtained from the bottom of (D2) comprises EDA, with the components water and N-MeEDA comprised in the mixture (G1) having been largely or completely removed. Further distillation steps can optionally be carried out in order to obtain pure EDA, for example when diethylenetriamine (DETA) is additionally comprised in the mixture (G1). If ammonia is additionally comprised in the mixture (G1), an ammonia removal is preferably additionally carried out before carrying out the step a) in the process of the invention.

The object is to prevent deterioration and loss of dicyanobenzene in producing dicyanobenzene by ammoxidation of xylene to thereby achieve industrial and economical advantage in producing of dicyanobenzene. The method for producing dicyanobenzene of the present invention includes: contacting a xylene-ammoxidation reaction gas containing dicyanobenzene in ammoxidation of xylene with an organic solvent so as to obtain a dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution; contacting the dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution with a basic aqueous solution containing a salt such as ammonium carbonate so as to extract a water-soluble salt formed by neutralization reaction between carboxylic acid in the dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution and a base in the basic aqueous solution into an aqueous phase; separating the mixture of the dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution and the basic aqueous solution into an organic phase and an aqueous phase; decomposing the salt such as ammonium carbonate contained in the organic phase for separation of the salt from the organic phase; and distilling the organic phase to separate low boiling point compounds contained in the organic phase from the organic phase so as to obtain dicyanobenzene.

The object is to prevent deterioration and loss of dicyanobenzene in producing dicyanobenzene by ammoxidation of xylene to thereby achieve industrial and economical advantage in producing of dicyanobenzene. The method for producing dicyanobenzene of the present invention includes: contacting a xylene-ammoxidation reaction gas containing dicyanobenzene in ammoxidation of xylene with an organic solvent so as to obtain a dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution; contacting the dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution with a basic aqueous solution containing a salt such as ammonium carbonate so as to extract a water-soluble salt formed by neutralization reaction between carboxylic acid in the dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution and a base in the basic aqueous solution into an aqueous phase; separating the mixture of the dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution and the basic aqueous solution into an organic phase and an aqueous phase; decomposing the salt such as ammonium carbonate contained in the organic phase for separation of the salt from the organic phase; and distilling the organic phase to separate low boiling point compounds contained in the organic phase from the organic phase so as to obtain dicyanobenzene.

The object is to prevent deterioration and loss of dicyanobenzene in producing dicyanobenzene by ammoxidation of xylene to thereby achieve industrial and economical advantage in producing of dicyanobenzene. The method for producing dicyanobenzene of the present invention includes: contacting a xylene-ammoxidation reaction gas containing dicyanobenzene in ammoxidation of xylene with an organic solvent so as to obtain a dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution; contacting the dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution with a basic aqueous solution containing a salt such as ammonium carbonate so as to extract a water-soluble salt formed by neutralization reaction between carboxylic acid in the dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution and a base in the basic aqueous solution into an aqueous phase; separating the mixture of the dicyanobenzene-absorbing solution and the basic aqueous solution into an organic phase and an aqueous phase; decomposing the salt such as ammonium carbonate contained in the organic phase for separation of the salt from the organic phase; and distilling the organic phase to separate low boiling point compounds contained in the organic phase from the organic phase so as to obtain dicyanobenzene.

A composition including an amidoamine curing agent composition or a polyamide curing agent composition are disclosed. The composition includes the reaction products of (1) an amine component including at least one multifunctional amine of structure (I):

##STR00001##

wherein each R is independently H or CH.sub.2CH.sub.2CH.sub.2NH.sub.2; R.sub.1 is H, CH.sub.3CH.sub.2CH.sub.2N—, C1-C21 alkyl, or C1-C21 alkenyl; n is 2; and m is 1 or 2, with (2) a fatty acid or ester component selected from the group consisting of a dimer fatty acid or ester component, a monofunctional fatty acid or ester component, and combinations thereof. The amidoamine curing agent composition remains as liquid at ambient temperature.