The invention discloses a method for separating a
cresol mixture and synthesizing 2, 3, 6-tricresol by adopting an
alkylation method, and relates to the technical field of separation of
cresol mixtures. The technical problems that in the prior art, during
alkylation separation of 2, 4, 2, 5-
xylenol, the obtained 2, 5-
xylenol is narrow in application and small in dosage, and the synthesis cost of 2, 3, 6-tricresol is relatively high are solved. According to the method, the isobutene reacts with the mixture of the 2, 4-
xylenol and the 2, 5-xylenol to generate the 6-tert-butyl-2, 4-xylenol and the 4-tert-butyl-2, 5-xylenol, so that the partial separation of the 2, 4-xylenol and the 2, 5-xylenol is realized; and carrying out
methylation reaction on the separated intermediate and
methanol to generate 2, 3, 6-trimethylphenol. According to the method disclosed by the invention, the application range of the 2, 5-xylenol is remarkably widened, the use amount of the mixture of the 2, 4-xylenol and the 2, 5-xylenol is increased, and the dependency degree on m-
cresol in the synthesis of the
vitamin E is reduced.