Liquid 2-(2-hydroxy-3-higher branched alkyl-5-methyl-phenyl)-2H-benzotriazole mixtures, stabilized compositions and processes for preparing liquid mixtures

Claim 1

A process for preparing a normally liquid or non-crystalline mixture of benzotriazoles, suitable for stabilizing organic materials against light induced deterioration, which consists essentially of compounds of the formula ##STR11## wherein T 1 is hydrogen or chloro, and T 2 is a random statistical mixture of at least three isomeric branched secondary alkyl groups each having 8 to 30 carbon atoms and having the formula ##STR12## where E 1 is a straight chain alkyl of 1 to 14 carbon atoms and E 2 is a straight chain alkyl of 4 to 15 carbon atoms where the total number of carbon atoms in E 1 plus E 2 is 7 to 29, which process comprises alkylating a benzotriazole of the formula ##STR13## where T 1 is hydrogen or chloro, with a straight chain alkene of 8 to 30 carbon atoms in the presence of an acidic catalyst at a temperature of 100 to 200° C., wherein the equivalent ratio of alkene to 2H-benzotriazole is 1:1 to 6:1, and the equivalents of acidic catalyst selected from the groups consisting of aliphatic, aromatic and substituted aromatic sulfonic acids, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, acidic clays and acidic molecular sieves per equivalent of benzotriazole is 0.2 to 3.