Process for producing cyclic siloxanes

Claim 1

In a process for preparing cyclic siloxane compounds, said process consisting essentially of the hydrolysis and condensation of a hydrolyzable organosilicon compound, the improvement comprising increasing the yield of said cyclic siloxane compounds by hydrolyzing and condensing said organosilicon compound in the presence of a cationic surface active agent, said agent being essentially soluble only in the aqueous phase of said process, wherein the concentration of the cationic surface active agent in said aqueous phase is from about 0.01 to about 10 weight percent, wherein said cationic surface active agent is selected from the class consisting of a salt of a protonated amine, a quaternary ammonium salt, a salt of a protonated carboxylic acid, a salt of a protonated alcohol, a salt of a protonated nitrile, a salt of a protonated sulfoxide, a salt of a protonated mercaptan, a quaternary phosphonium salt, and a salt of a protonated phosphine, wherein the cation of each salt contains from 5 to 30 carbon atoms, and wherein the anion of each salt is selected from the group consisting of halide, sulfate, and phosphate anions.