Process to prepare ethylene amines and ethylene amine derivatives

Abstract

A process is provided for preparing ethyleneamines of the formula NH.sub.2—(C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH—).sub.pH wherein p is at least 3, or derivatives thereof wherein one or more units —NH—C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH— may be present as a cyclic ethylene urea unit or piperazine unit or between two units —NH—C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH— a carbonyl moiety is present. The process includes reacting an ethanolamine-functional compound OH—(C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH—).sub.qH wherein q is at least 2, an amine-functional compound NH.sub.2—(C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH—).sub.rH wherein r is at least 1, in the presence of a carbon oxide delivering agent, wherein the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound is from about 0.05:1 to about 0.7:1 and the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound, provided that the process does not comprise reacting 3 moles of ethylenediamine (EDA) and 1 mole of AEEA (aminoethylethanolamine) in the presence of 1.65 moles of urea at 280 deg C. for 2 hours.

Claims

1. A process to prepare ethyleneamines of the formula NH.sub.2—(C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH—).sub.pH wherein p is at least 3, or derivatives thereof wherein one or more units —NH—C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH— may be present as a cyclic ethylene urea unit ##STR00017## or piperazine unit ##STR00018## or between two units —NH—C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH— a carbonyl moiety is present, the process comprising: reacting an ethanolamine-functional compound HO—(C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH—).sub.qH wherein q is at least 2, an amine-functional compound NH.sub.2—(C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH—).sub.rH wherein r is at least 1, in the presence of a carbon oxide delivering agent, wherein the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound is from 0.05:1 to 0.7:1 and the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound, provided that the process does not comprise reacting 3 moles of ethylenediamine (EDA) and 1 mole of AEEA (aminoethylethanolamine) in the presence of 1.65 moles of urea at 280 deg C. for 2 hours.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is at least 10% higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is at least 50% higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is up to 500% higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound.

5. A process to prepare ethyleneamines of the formula NH.sub.2—(C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH—).sub.PH wherein p is at least 3, or derivatives thereof wherein one or more units —NH—C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH— may be present as a cyclic ethylene urea unit ##STR00019## or piperazine unit ##STR00020## or between two units NH—C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH— a carbonyl moiety is present, the process comprising: reacting an ethanolamine-functional compound HO—(C2H.sub.4—NH—).sub.qH wherein q is at least 2, an amine-functional compound NH.sub.2—(C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH—).sub.rH wherein r is at least 1, in the presence of a carbon oxide delivering agent, wherein the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound is from 0.1 to 0.5 and the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound, provided that the process does not comprise reacting 3 moles of ethylenediamine (EDA) and 1 mole of AEEA (aminoethylethanolamine) in the presence of 1.65 moles of urea at 280 deg C. for 2 hours.

6. The process of claim 1 further comprising providing a carbamate adduct to the reaction of the ethanolamine-functional compound, the amine-functional compound, and the carbon oxide delivering agent.

7. The process of claim 1 further comprising providing an urea adduct to the reaction of the ethanolamine-functional compound, the amine-functional compound, and the carbon oxide delivering agent.

8. The process of claim 1 further comprising converting the obtained cyclic ethylene urea into its corresponding ethylene amine.

9. The process of claim 1 wherein the ethanolamine-functional compound is AEEA (aminoethylethanolamine), CAEEA (the carbamate of aminoethylethanolamine), UAEEA (the urea of aminoethylethanolamine) or a mixture thereof and the amine-functional compound is EDA (ethylenediamine), EU, (ethyleneurea) or a mixture thereof.

10. The process of claim 1 wherein the ethanolamine-functional compound is AEEA (aminoethylethanolamine), CAEEA (the carbamate of aminoethylethanolamine), UAEEA (the urea of aminoethylethanolamine) or a mixture thereof and the amine-functional compound is DETA (diethylenetriamine), UDETA, (the urea of DETA) or a mixture thereof.

11. The process of claim 5 wherein the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is at least 10% higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound.

12. The process of claim 5 wherein the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is at least 50% higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound.

13. The process of claim 5 wherein the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is up to 500% higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound.

14. The process of claim 5 further comprising providing a carbamate adduct to the reaction of the ethanolamine-functional compound, the amine-functional compound, and the carbon oxide delivering agent.

15. The process of claim 5 further comprising providing a urea adduct to the reaction of the ethanolamine-functional compound, the amine-functional compound, and the carbon oxide delivering agent.

16. The process of claim 5 further comprising converting the obtained cyclic ethylene urea into its corresponding ethylene amine.

17. The process of claim 5 wherein the ethanolamine-functional compound is AEEA (aminoethylethanolamine), CAEEA (the carbamate of aminoethylethanolamine), UAEEA (the urea of aminoethylethanolamine) or a mixture thereof and the amine-functional compound is EDA (ethylenediamine), EU, (ethyleneurea) or a mixture thereof.

18. The process of claim 5 wherein the ethanolamine-functional compound is AEEA (aminoethylethanolamine), CAEEA (the carbamate of aminoethylethanolamine), UAEEA (the urea of aminoethylethanolamine) or a mixture thereof and the amine-functional compound is DETA (diethylenetriamine), UDETA, (the urea of DETA) or a mixture thereof.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(1) It has now been found that selectivity of the process to the ethylene amines products can be improved if the ratio ethanolamine-functional compound:amine-functional compound is relatively low and the carbon oxide delivering agent is dosed in a higher amount on amine-functional compound than the ethanolamine compound.

(2) The selectivity of the process for the purpose of this application is defined as the molar selectivity of the ethanolamine reactant and/or its carbamate or urea derivative towards the higher ethyleneamines as prepared in the process (of the formula NH2-(C2H4-NH—)pH wherein p is at least 3 or derivatives thereof wherein one or more units —NH-C2H4-NH— may be present as a cyclic ethylene urea unit or between two units —NH-C2H4-NH— a carbonyl moiety may be present). The selectivity can be calculated from the moles of higher ethyleneamines formed per mole of ethanolamine converted with respect to the ethanolamine used as a raw material in the process.

(3) Even though the yield is not as high as possible such a process is very advantageous as much fewer side products are formed and unreacted starting materials can be easily recycled

(4) The present invention now provides a process to prepare ethyleneamines of the formula NH2-(C2H4-NH-)pH wherein p is at least 3, or derivatives thereof wherein one or more units —NH—C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH— may be present as a cyclic ethylene urea unit

(5) ##STR00006##
or piperazine unit

(6) ##STR00007##
or between two units —NH—C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH— a carbonyl moiety is present, by reacting an ethanolamine-functional compound OH—(C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH—).sub.qH wherein q is at least 2, an amine-functional compound NH.sub.2—(C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH—).sub.rH wherein r is at least 1 in the presence of a carbon oxide delivering agent, wherein the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound is between 0.05:1 and 0.7:1 and the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound, provided that the process is not the process of reacting 3 moles ethylenediamine (EDA) and 1 mole AEEA (aminoethylethanolamine) in the presence of 1.65 moles of urea at 280 deg C. for 2 hours.

(7) It was found that the selectivity of the reaction towards producing specific higher ethylene amines increases when working within the molar ratio ranges of the present invention, wherein the selectively obtained specific higher ethyleneamine product is the product wherein the value of p is the sum of q and r, including its urea derivatives.

(8) It should be noted that U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,249 discloses a selective process to manufacture diethylene triamine by reacting monoethanolamine, ethylenediamine and urea. The document says that the most preferred mole ratio of the reactants ethylenediamine to urea to ethanolamine is about 3/1.25/1. Monoethanolamine is an ethanolamine-functional compound OH—(C2H4-NH-)qH wherein q is 1 and thereby outside the scope of the present invention. Also monoethanolamine is in reactions as the one covered by the present invention not comparable with the ethanolamines wherein q is at least 2 due to the propensity of monoethanolamine to form a carbamate rather than a urea which is the case for ethanolamines where q is 2 or higher. For example, contacting a carbon oxide delivering agent with monoethanolamine and aminoethylethanolamine, respectively, at a suitable reaction temperature will produce CMEA and UAEEA, respectively, as can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,133,932 that discloses the formation of the cyclic MEA-derived carbamate CMEA and in WO97/49686 that discloses in Example L the formation of the cyclic AEEA-derived urea UAEEA. The former is a cyclic carbamate and the latter is a cyclic urea and they display substantially different chemical reactivities and hence kinetic and thermodynamic profiles as intermediates such as in the present invention. As a skilled person will understand, the reactivity of the separate reactants largely influences the selectivity towards such reactants. All the above makes that the reaction as found for monoethanolamine does not have predictive value for how bigger ethanolamines will react. This can also be seen below where the optimum for the ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to other reactants is given. This clearly deviates from the optimum defined in U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,249 for using MEA.

(9) Preferably, the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is at least 10% higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound. In a more preferred embodiment the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is at least 20% higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound. In even more preferred embodiments when starting from amines and ethanolamines that are bigger in size and that contain 3 or more ethylene units, the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound is at least 50% higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound. The molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound in embodiments can be up to 500% higher than the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound, but preferably is up to 300% higher, even more preferably 200% higher. In another preferred embodiment the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound is between 0.1:1 and 0.5:1, even more preferably between 0.2:1 and 0.4:1.

(10) It should be noted that compounds exist that contain more than one carbonyl group that can be released from the molecule for transfer to the ethanolamine-functional compound, such as for example DUTETA. When determining the molar ratio for such compounds there should be an adjustment for the molar amount of carbon oxide they can release for transfer to the ethanolamine-functional compound. Accordingly, 1 mole of DUTETA should be considered 2 moles of carbon oxide delivering agent.

(11) The molar amount of carbon oxide delivering agent on amine-functional compound is determined by the reactants in the process, independent of the dosing regime used for the reactants.

(12) The reaction mixture is characterized by containing as reactants ethanolamine-functional compound, amine-functional compound and carbon oxide delivering agent and can be roughly represented by below non-limiting scheme.

(13) ##STR00008##

(14) A number of reactions take place in parallel when heating a mixture of a carbonyl source, an ethanolamine-functional compound and an amine-functional compound.

(15) Without being bound to theory this can be summarized in two main reaction steps each composed of multiple sub steps: 1) the activation of the alcohol function (A) by the carbonyl group, the oxazolidinone (B) is assumed to be an intermediate (for the embodiments of this invention mainly in theory, because the carbonyl unit will substantially end up as a cyclic urea unit in the R1 group), 2) the activated alcohol function is replaced by an amine (C) to give a chain extended primary addition product (D). In the presence of ammonia a conversion of the alcohol function to an amine function without giving a chain extension can take place as well. The product (D) may undergo further reaction leading to secondary CO containing products as illustrated by reaction IV and product (F). Such products include but are not limited to cyclic ethylene urea derivatives but include all kinds of CO containing amines as for example illustrated in below examples of CO delivering agents. Optionally the CO groups can be removed leading to the formation of an ethylene amine (E).

(16) The ethanolamine-functional compound is a compound containing one hydroxyl group linked via an ethylene to an amine group that optionally may be present as its carbamate equivalent. Generally the ethanolamine-functional compound is of the following formula

(17) ##STR00009##

(18) Where R is an ethyleneamine group of the formula —(C.sub.2H.sub.4—N).sub.q-1—H (q being at least 2 as defined above) in which optionally a cyclic urea unit

(19) ##STR00010##
may be present.

(20) Examples of ethanolamine functional compounds include

(21) ##STR00011##

(22) As to naming convention, AEEA stands for aminoethylethanolamine (also referred to as hydroxyethylethylenediamine), HE-DETA for hydroxyethyldiethylenetriamine, and from there on HE-TETA for hydroxyethyl triethylenetetramine etc. By using the letter C it is indicated that a cyclic carbamate ring is present in the molecule.

(23) The carbon oxide delivering agent is a compound containing a carbonyl moiety that can be transferred to an ethanolamine functional compound leading to the formation of a cyclic carbamate, such as CAEEA (the cyclic carbamate of aminoethyl ethanolamine) or that can be transferred to an ethylene amine (EA) leading to the formation of the corresponding cyclic ethylene urea (UEA). Next to cyclic compounds linear carbamates and ureas may form as well.

(24) Carbon oxide delivering agents within the scope of the present invention include organic compounds in which a carbonyl moiety is available for being transferred as described above. Organic compounds in which a carbonyl moiety is available for being transferred include carbon dioxide, urea, linear and cyclic alkylene ureas, especially cyclic ureas, mono or di-substituted alkylene ureas, alkyl and dialkyl ureas, linear and cyclic carbamates, especially cyclic carbamates, organic carbonates and derivatives or precursors thereof. Such derivatives or precursors may for example include ionic compounds such as carbonate or bicarbonate salts, carbamic acids and associated salts, that can be converted, in some embodiments in situ in the process of the invention, into their non-ionic counterparts, for example into linear and cyclic carbamate or urea compounds. When such ionic compounds are used in the present invention, they are organic hydrocarbon-based carbonate, bicarbonate or carbamate salts. Preferably the CO delivering agent is CO2, urea, or an organic compound wherein alkylene is ethylene, such as a cyclic urea of an ethylene amine, or cyclic carbamate of an ethanolamine, ethylene carbonate, more preferably the carbon oxide delivering agent is at least partly added as carbon dioxide or urea. The carbon oxide delivering agent can be present in the process in the same molecule as the amine functional or the ethanolamine functional compound by using the aforementioned urea or carbamate compounds.

(25) Examples of carbon oxide delivering agents include

(26) ##STR00012## ##STR00013##

(27) In the above drawing CAEEA again stands for the carbamate of aminoethylethanolamine, UDETA for the urea of diethylene triamine, DAEU stands for diaminoethyl urea, AE AE carbamate stands for amino ethyl aminoethanol carbamate, CHE-DETA stands for the carbamate of hydroxyethyldiethylene triamine, U1TETA stands for the terminal urea of triethylene tetramine, and DUTETA stands for the 1,3-diurea of triethylene tetramine.

(28) The carbon oxide delivering agent is most preferably added to the reaction in the form of carbon dioxide, the carbamate derivative of the ethanolamine-functional compound or the urea derivative of the amine-functional compound, or a combination of these.

(29) Heating a suitable mixture of an ethanolamine, an amine that is not tertiary and a carbon oxide delivering agent to a relatively high temperature provides a way to produce a higher amine and CO containing derivative thereof that can serve as a carbon oxide delivering agent.

(30) The amine-functional compound is a compound containing one or more amine groups, preferably at least two amine groups, and no alcohol groups.

(31) In a preferred embodiment the amine-functional compound is a compound containing at least two amine groups. Even more preferred the amine-functional compound contains at least two primary amine groups, and optionally more amine groups that may be primary, secondary and/or tertiary amines wherein the amine groups within the compound are linked to one another via ethylene groups, and optionally some by a carbonyl moiety (to give a urea unit in the amine functional compound). It should be noted that tertiary amines are only present in an amine of the formula NH2-(C2H4-NH-)pH if there is piperazine unit in the compound.

(32) In another preferred embodiment the ethanolamine-functional compound and the carbon oxide delivering agent are at least partly added as one compound by using a carbamate adduct and/or the amine-functional compound and the carbon oxide delivering agent are at least partly added as one compound by using an urea adduct. A carbamate compound for the present invention is not considered an amine-functional compound, like an ethanolamine-functional compound is not considered an amine-functional compound.

(33) In a more preferred embodiment the ethanolamine-functional compound is AEEA, UAEEA, CAEEA or a mixture thereof and the amine-functional compound EDA, EU or a mixture thereof.

(34) In an embodiment the amine-functional compound and/or the ethanolamine-functional compound are obtained directly or indirectly from an amine production process as described above, such as for example a reductive amination process or EDC process.

(35) For the avoidance of doubt, in the process of the present invention also derivatives of ethylene amines are covered as products, these derivatives are the compounds wherein one or more units —NH—C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH— may be present as a cyclic ethylene urea unit

(36) ##STR00014##
or piperazine unit

(37) ##STR00015##
or between two units —NH—C.sub.2H.sub.4—NH— a carbonyl moiety is present. It should be noted that compounds wherein piperazine units are present are usually only obtained if such piperazine units were also present in one of the reactants. This is not the case for products where a cyclic ethylene urea unit or bridging carbonyl moiety is present, this unit and/or moiety may result from the reaction between any carbon oxide delivering agent and one of an ethanolamine-functional compound, amine-functional compound or obtained ethylene amine product.

(38) The product mixture can be further processed or fractionated into several products that each independently are either pure compounds or mixture of compounds, some of which may be recycled.

(39) The process of the present invention can be done with or without any additional liquid present. If a liquid is added to the reaction system, the liquid preferably is a polar liquid, such as an alcohol or water. Doing the process of the present invention in the presence of water as a liquid or without any additional liquid is preferred.

(40) If any of the ethanolamine-functional compound or amine-functional compound contains piperazine units

(41) ##STR00016##
preferably the reaction is performed in a liquid wherein the liquid comprises water as then both the yield and selectivity can be increased. The reactants do not count as part of the above liquid. Hence, even if one or more of the ethanolamine-functional compound, amine-functional compound or carbon oxide delivering agent are liquid at the reaction conditions, these are not considered part of the above liquid in which the process of the invention is performed.

(42) In a preferred embodiment when having compounds with piperazine units in the process of the invention, the liquid contains at least 50 wt-% of water up to 100 wt-% of water, wherein more preferably the remaining up to 50 wt-% is a polar liquid that mixes homogenously with water at the conditions employed during the process of the invention. Even more preferably the liquid contains at least 75 wt-% of water, yet more preferably at least 90 wt-%, most preferably at least 95-wt % on total liquid weight.

(43) The reactor employed can be any suitable reactor including continuously stirred tank reactor, pipeline reactor, tubular or multi-tubular reactor. The reactor may be adiabatic or equipped with external or internal heating devices. Feed may be single point or split into multiple points. It can consist of multiple stages with inter-stage heat exchange.

(44) The process is preferably performed at a temperature of at least 100° C. The temperature should preferably be lower than 400° C. More preferably the temperature is between 200 and 360° C. Even more preferably the temperature is between 230 and 340° C. Most preferably the temperature is between 250 and 310° C.

(45) The reaction time during the process is in an embodiment between 5 minutes and 15 hours, preferably between 10 minutes and 10 hours, more preferably between 15 minutes and 6 hours.

(46) The process can be carried out in one or multiple batch reactors, possibly in fed-batch operation, and/or in a continuously operating system in one reactor or in a cascade of continuous flow reactors, optionally with multiple feeding points. The reaction and separation can be performed in separate steps or at least partially simultaneously. The reaction and separation can involve multiple reaction steps with separation steps in between.

(47) In the large-scale production of chemicals it is preferred to employ a continuous process. The continuous process may be, for example, a single-pass or a recycle process. In a single-pass process, one or more of the reagents pass through the process equipment once, and then the resulting effluent from the reactor is sent for purification or further processing.

(48) The person skilled in the art is capable of selecting the proper reactor and separation unit scheme by determining the overall yield, energy consumption and waste production.

(49) In yet another more preferred embodiment, mixtures of several alcohol and amines can be used that may amongst other contain aminoethylethanolamine (AEEA) and ethylenediamine (EDA), and/or DETA (diethylenetriamine) in combination with further amine-functional compounds and ethanolamine-functional compounds and that are reacted with urea or CO2 as a carbon oxide delivering agent to form higher ethylene polyamines, mainly triethylenetetramine (TETA) and tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA):

EXAMPLES

(50) For a reaction mixture containing a single ethanol amine and its urea derivative in the starting mixture, a general selectivity can be calculated from:

(51) $\mathrm{Selectivity}=\frac{\mathrm{mol}\left(U\right)\mathrm{ethylene}\mathrm{amines}\mathrm{formed}}{\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{mol}\left(U\right)\mathrm{ethanolamine}\mathrm{at}\mathrm{start}-\\ \mathrm{mol}\left(U\right)\mathrm{ethanolamine}\mathrm{remaining}\end{array}}$

(52) Here, (U)ethylene amine stands for ethylene amine and its urea derivative and (U)ethanol amine stands for ethanol amine and its urea derivative.

(53) For example for the reaction mixture starting with AEEA, EDA and carbon oxide delivering agent, the selectivity is calculated from:

(54) $\mathrm{Selectivity}=\frac{\mathrm{mol}\left(D\right)\left(U\right)\mathrm{TETA}\mathrm{formed}}{\mathrm{mol}\left(U\right)\mathrm{AEEA}\mathrm{at}\mathrm{start}-\mathrm{mol}\left(U\right)\mathrm{AEEA}\mathrm{remaining}}$

(55) Here, (D)(U)TETA stands for tri-ethylene tetra-amine and its mono- and di-urea derivatives and (U)AEEA stands for amino ethyl ethanol amine and its urea derivative.

(56) For a reaction mixture containing more than one ethanol amine and its urea derivative in the starting mixture, a general selectivity can be calculated from:

(57) $\mathrm{Selectivity}=\frac{\mathrm{mol}\left(U\right)\mathrm{EA}\mathrm{formed}}{\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{mol}\left(U\right)\mathrm{ethanolamines}\mathrm{at}\mathrm{start}-\\ \mathrm{mol}\left(U\right)\mathrm{ethanolamines}\mathrm{remaining}\end{array}}$

(58) With the ethanolamines and their urea derivatives exclusively the types that were initially present, and not any newly formed (higher) ethanol amines.

Abbreviations Used in Examples

(59) CO=carbon oxide delivering agent

(60) OH=ethanolamine-functional compound

(61) Amine=amine-functional compound

(62) OH/amine is the molar ratio of ethanolamine-functional compound to amine-functional compound

(63) CO/amine is the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to amine-functional compound

(64) CO/OH is the molar ratio of carbon oxide delivering agent to ethanolamine-functional compound

Example 1

(65) Reaction of UAEEA with EDA and EU. The CO/Amine ratio was varied between 1, 0.6, and 0.2. The OH/amine ratio was kept at 0.3.

(66) The urea derivative of aminoethylethanolamine (UAEEA), ethyleneurea (EU, the urea derivative of ethylenediamine), ethylenediamine (EDA) were added to a microwave vial in the respective amounts as indicated in Table 1. The vials were capped, flushed with N.sub.2, and heated at 285° C. for 4 h. The samples were then allowed to cool and the content was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID).

(67) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Example 1A 1B 1C (comparative) Reactants AEEA/EU AEEA/EU/EDA AEEA/EU/EDA CO/amine 1 0.6 0.2 OH/amine 0.3 0.3 0.3 CO/OH 3.33 2 0.67 reactant amounts in g 2.7:7.3 2.9:4.8:2.2 3.2:1.8:5 molar ratio of reactants   1:3.33 1:2:1.33 1:2.67:0.67 Reaction time in hours 4 4 4 EDA 16 31 46 AEEA 1 2 8 EU 36 13 3 UAEEA 16 7 5 Sum (U)TETA 25 35 27 Molar conversion of 0.52 0.75 0.65 (U)AEEA Molar selectivity of 0.94 0.87 0.80 (U)AEEA to (U)TETA
All GC FID data in wt. %
Sum (U)TETA denotes the sum of L-TETA and urea adducts thereof

(68) In the Table 1 it can be seen that working at the OH/amine ratio of the present invention and a CO/amine ratio that is higher than the OH/amine ratio is favorable for selectivity and also that having the CO/amine at least 50% higher than the OH/amine ratio further improves the selectivity.

Example 2

(69) Reaction of UAEEA with EDA and EU. The CO/Amine ratio was kept at 1. The OH/amine ratio was varied at 0.3, 0.5 and 1.1.

(70) The urea derivative of aminoethylethanolamine (UAEEA), ethyleneurea (EU, the urea derivative of ethylenediamine), ethylenediamine (EDA) were added to a microwave vial in the respective amounts as indicated in Table 2. The vials were capped, flushed with N.sub.2, and heated at 285° C. for 4 h. The samples were then allowed to cool and the content was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID).

(71) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Example 2A 2B 2C (comparative) Reactants AEEA/EU AEEA/EU AEEA/EU CO/amine 1 1 1 OH/amine 0.3 0.5 1.1 CO/amine 3.33 2 0.91 reactant amounts in g 2.7:7.3 3.8:6.2 5.7:4.3 molar ratio of reactants   1:3.33 1:2   1:0.91 Reaction time in hours 4 4 4 EDA 16 18 14 AEEA 1 2 10 EU 36 15 3 UAEEA 16 16 18 Sum (U)TETA 25 36 32 Molar conversion of 0.52 0.61 0.58 (U)AEEA Molar selectivity of 0.94 0.85 0.56 (U)AEEA to (U)TETA
All GC FID data in wt. %
Sum (U)TETA denotes the sum of L-TETA and urea adducts thereof

(72) It is clearly demonstrated that the OH/amine ratio has an influence on the molar selectivity towards higher ethylene amines.

Example 3

(73) Reaction of UAEEA with EDA and EU. The CO/OH ratio was varied at 0.75 and 1.5. The OH/amine ratio was varied at 0.5 and 0.6.

(74) The urea derivative of aminoethylethanolamine (UAEEA), ethyleneurea (EU, the urea derivative of ethylenediamine), ethylenediamine (EDA) were added to a microwave vial in the respective amounts as indicated in Table 3. The vials were capped, flushed with N.sub.2, and heated at 285° C. for 3.5 h. The samples were then allowed to cool and the content was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID).

(75) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Example 3C 3D 3A 3B (comparative) (comparative) reactants AEEA/UAEEA/EU/EDA AEEA/UAEEA/EU/EDA AEEA/EU/EDA AEEA/EU/EDA CO/amine 0.75 0.9 0.375 0.45 OH/amine 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.6 CO/OH 1.5 1.5 0.75 0.75 reactant amounts in g 2.57:1.68:3.88:1.86 2.85:1.78:4.13:1.24 4.27:2.65:3.08 4.65:2.28:2.47 molar ratio of reactants 1:0.5:1.75:1.25 1:0.5:1.75:0.75   1:0.75:1.25   1:0.75:0.92 Reaction time in hours 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 EDA 23 17 40 35 AEEA 3 3 14 13 EU 13 11 5 4 UAEEA 14 17 17 18 Sum (U)TETA 28 30 11 12 Molar conversion of 0.63 0.62 0.36 0.41 (U)AEEA Molar selectivity of 0.64 0.65 0.44 0.39 (U)AEEA to (U)TETA
All GC FID data in wt. %
Sum (U)TETA denotes the sum of L-TETA and urea adducts thereof

(76) Table 3 demonstrates that when having the OH/amine ratio between 0.05:1 and 0.7:1, selectivity improves when the CO:amine ratio is higher than the OH:amine ratio. The yield of the desired (U)TETA product is much higher when operating at this higher CO/amine ratio. Experiments 3A and 3B have a much higher yield and selectivity towards (U)TETA's as compared to experiments 3C and 3D.

Example 4

(77) Reaction of UAEEA with EDA and EU CO/Amine=0.875 and OH/amine=0.25

(78) The urea derivative of aminoethylethanolamine (UAEEA), ethyleneurea (EU, the urea derivative of ethylenediamine), ethylenediamine (EDA) were added to a microwave vial in the respective amounts as indicated in Table 4. The vials were capped, flushed with N2, and heated at 280° C. for 2.5 and 5 h, respectively. The samples were then allowed to cool and the content was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID).

(79) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Example 4a 4b reactants UAEEA/EU/EDA UAEEA/EU/EDA CO/amine 0.875 0.875 OH/amine 0.25 0.25 CO/OH 3.5 3.5 reactant amounts in g 0.45/0.775/0.311 0.45/0.775/0.311 molar ratio of reactants 1:2.5:1.5 1:2.5:1.5 Reaction time in hours 2.5 5 EDA 17.3 17.2 AEEA 0.7 0.4 EU 36.1 32.1 UAEEA 14.2 8.1 Sum (U)TETA 20.1 27.3 Molar conversion of 0.49 0.71 (U)AEEA Molar selectivity of 0.99 0.98 (U)AEEA to (U)TETA
All GC FID data in wt. %
Sum (U)TETA denotes the sum of L-TETA and urea adducts thereof

(80) Molar selectivities above 0.95 were achieved by using a reaction mixture where the ratio ethanolamine-functional compound:amine-functional compound is in the range of the invention and the carbon oxide delivering agent is dosed in a higher amount on amine-functional compound than the ethanolamine compound is dosed on the amine-functional compound.

Example 5

(81) Reaction of UAEEA with EDA and EU CO/amine=1.07 and OH/amine=0.33

(82) The urea derivative of aminoethylethanolamine (UAEEA), ethyleneurea (EU, the urea derivative of ethylenediamine), ethylenediamine (EDA) were added to a microwave vial in the respective amounts as indicated in Table 5. The vials were capped, flushed with N.sub.2, and heated at 280° C. for 5 and 10 h, respectively. The samples were then allowed to cool and the content was analyzed by GC-FID.

(83) TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Example 5a 5b reactants UAEEA/EU/EDA UAEEA/EU/EDA CO/amine 1.07 1.07 OH/amine 0.33 0.33 CO/OH 3.2 3.2 reactant amounts in g 0.45/0.682/0.166 0.45/0.682/0.166 molar ratio of reactants 1:2.2:0.8 1:2.2:0.8 Reaction time in hours 5 10 EDA 12.9 11.8 AEEA 0.3 n.d. EU 31.1 25.6 UAEEA 12.1 3.9 Sum (U)TETA 25.9 32.5 Molar conversion of 0.64 0.89 (U)AEEA Molar selectivity of 0.88 0.81 (U)AEEA to (U)TETA
All GC-FID data in wt. %
Sum (U)TETA denotes the sum of L-TETA and urea adducts thereof

(84) Molar selectivities above 0.8 were achieved by using a reaction mixture where the ratio ethanolamine-functional compound:amine-functional compound is relatively low and the carbon oxide delivering agent is dosed in a higher amount on amine-functional compound than the ethanolamine compound is dosed on the amine-functional compound. Comparison with Example 4 shows that both the CO/Amine and OH/amine ratio's are relevant for obtaining high selectivities.

Comparative Example 6

(85) Reaction of AEEA with EDA and EU CO/amine=0.75 and OH/amine=1

(86) The aminoethylethanolamine (AEEA), ethyleneurea (EU, the urea derivative of ethylenediamine), ethylenediamine (EDA) were added to a pressure vessel in the respective amounts as indicated in Table 6. The reaction vessel was closed, flushed with N.sub.2 and heated to 270° C. for 5 h. The sample was then allowed to cool and the content was analyzed by GC-FID.

(87) TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 Example 6 reactants AEEA/EU/EDA CO/amine 0.75 OH/amine 1 CO/OH 0.75 reactant amounts in g 10/6.2/1.44 molar ratio of reactants 1:0.75:0.25 Reaction time in hours 2.5 EDA 15.5 AEEA 8.7 EU 3.3 UAEEA 12.7 Sum (U)TETA 28.1 Molar conversion of (U)AEEA 0.67 Molar selectivity of (U)AEEA to 0.45 (U)TETA
All GC-FID data in wt. %
Sum (U)TETA denotes the sum of L-TETA and urea adducts thereof

(88) Conclusion: Molar selectivities of 0.45 were achieved by using a reaction mixture where the ratio ethanolamine-functional compound:amine-functional compound is outside the range of the invention and higher than the carbon oxide delivering agent:amine-functional compound ratio. The Example clearly shows that the selectivity of AEEA towards L-TETA and urea adducts thereof is much lower than for the Examples where the carbon oxide delivering agent:amine functional compound ratio is higher than the ethanolamine-function compound:amine-functional compound ratio.

Example 7 Reaction of UAEEA with DETA and UDETA CO/amine=1 and 1.33, OH/amine=0.33

(89) The urea derivative of aminoethylethanolamine (UAEEA) and the urea derivative of diethylenetriamine (UDETA) and diethylenetriamine (DETA) were added to a pressure vessel in the respective amounts as indicated in Table 7. The pressure vessel was closed, flushed with N.sub.2, and heated at for 4 h at the reaction temperature as shown in Table 7. The sample was then allowed to cool and the content was analyzed by GC-FID.

(90) TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 7 Example 7a 7b reactants UAEEA/UDETA/DETA UAEEA/UDETA CO/amine 1 1.33 OH/amine 0.33 0.33 CO/OH 3 4 reactant amounts in g 5.0/10.35/3.88 5.0/15.5 reaction temperature 280° C. 290° C. molar ratio of reactants 1:2:1 1:3 Reaction time in hours 4 h 4 h DETA 10.7 0.3 AEEA 2.9 1.7 UDETA 56.6 58.9 UAEEA 8.1 6.6 Sum (U)TEPA 15.4 21.9 Molar conversion of 0.56 0.72 (U)AEEA Molar selectivity of 0.60 0.66 (U)AEEA to (U)TEPA
All GC-FID data in wt. %
Sum (U)TEPA denotes the sum of L-TEPA and urea adducts thereof

(91) Conclusion: molar selectivities of above 0.6 were achieved by using a reaction mixture where the ratio ethanolamine-functional compound:amine-functional compound is in the range of the invention and the carbon oxide delivering agent is dosed in a higher amount on amine-functional compound than the ethanolamine compound is dosed on the amine-functional compound.

(92) The product mixture obtained in Example 7b was treated with a sodium hydroxide solution after which the amount of TEPA (i.e. tetraethylenepentamine without cyclic ethylene urea unit) on total (U)TEPA was increased.

Comparative Example 8

(93) Reaction of UAEEA with DETA CO/amine=1, OH/amine=1

(94) The urea derivative of aminoethylethanolamine (UAEEA) and diethylenetriamine (DETA) were added to a pressure vessel in the respective amounts as indicated in Table 8. The pressure vessel was closed, flushed with N.sub.2, and heated at 270° C. for 5 h. The sample was then allowed to cool and the content was analyzed by GC-FID.

(95) TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 8 Example 8 reactants UAEEA/DETA CO/amine 1 OH/amine 1 CO/OH 1 reactant amounts in g 10/7.9 molar ratio of reactants 1/1  Reaction time in hours 5 h DETA 13.8 AEEA 16.8 UDETA 30.5 UAEEA 16.0 Sum (U)TEPA 5.4 Molar conversion of (U)AEEA 0.34 Molar selectivity of (U)AEEA to 0.10 (U)TEPA
All GC-FID data in wt. %
Sum (U)TEPA denotes the sum of L-TEPA and urea adducts thereof

(96) A molar selectivity of only 0.1 was achieved by using a reaction mixture where the ratio ethanolamine-functional compound:amine-functional compound is higher than 0.7:1 and moreover equal to the carbon oxide delivering agent:amine-functional compound ratio. The example clearly shows that the selectivity of AEEA towards L-TEPA and urea adducts thereof is much lower than in previous example where the carbon oxide delivering agent:amine functional compound ratio is higher than the ethanolamine-function compound:amine-functional compound ratio.

Example 9

(97) Reaction of AEEA with EDA in the presence of CO2. CO/amine=1 and OH/amine=0.5

(98) The aminoethylethanolamine (AEEA), ethylenediamine (EDA) and carbon dioxide gas (CO2) were added to a high pressure autoclave in the respective amounts as indicated in Table 9. Before addition of the CO.sub.2, the autoclaves were filled with the EDA and AEEA, flushed with N.sub.2. The CO.sub.2 was added after pre-heating the amine mixture to a temperature of 130° C. The mixture was heated to 280° C. with a heating rate of 5° C./min. After reaching a temperature of 280° C., the reaction mixture was kept at the setpoint temperature for 2 h and 4.5 h, respectively. The samples were then allowed to cool and the content was analyzed by GC-FID.

(99) TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 9 Example 9a 9b reactants AEEA/EDA/CO2 AEEA/EDA/CO2 CO/amine 1 1 OH/amine 0.5 0.5 CO/OH 2 2 reactant amounts in g 33.3/38.5/28.5 33.3/38.5/28.5 molar ratio of reactants 1:2:2 1:2:2 Reaction time in hours 2 h 4.5 h EDA 21.7 17.9 AEEA 6.2 4.6 EU 9.8 7.0 UAEEA 22.9 14.0 Sum (U)TETA 12.9 23.2 Molar conversion of 0.28 0.53 (U)AEEA Molar selectivity of 0.76 0.72 (U)AEEA to (U)TETA
All GC-FID data in wt. %
Sum (U)TETA denotes the sum of L-TETA and urea adducts thereof

(100) Conclusion: molar selectivities of above 0.7 were achieved by using a reaction mixture where the ratio ethanolamine-functional compound:amine-functional compound is in the claimed range, the carbon oxide delivering agent is dosed as CO2 in the gas phase and is dosed in a higher amount on amine-functional compound than the ethanolamine compound is dosed on the amine-functional compound.

(101) While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the various embodiments in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment as contemplated herein. It being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the various embodiments as set forth in the appended claims.