PROCESS FOR MAKING DIARYL CARBONATE

Diphenyl carbonate is produced by reacting phenol with diethyl carbonate in a series of fixed bed reactors each of which is connected at different position on a distillation column via side draw and return streams. The composition of material in a distillation column varies along the length of the column, which is predictable under a given set of conditions of temperature and pressure, thus withdrawing streams at different stages in the column, allows the reactor receiving the feed from a particular stage to be operated under conditions to maximize the desired reaction, while allowing the unreacted or byproduct to go back into the distillation and be sent to a stage (by the equilibrium of the distillation) where they are favorably treated in a reactor.