Acetaldehyde liquid phase

Product refining is quite facile, following the same general pattern for acetic acid (qv) recovery from acetaldehyde liquid-phase oxidation. Low... 

Oxidation. Acetaldehyde is readily oxidised with oxygen or air to acetic acid, acetic anhydride, and peracetic acid (see Acetic acid and derivatives). The principal product depends on the reaction conditions. Acetic acid [64-19-7] may be produced commercially by the Hquid-phase oxidation of acetaldehyde at 65°C using cobalt or manganese acetate dissolved in acetic acid as a catalyst (34). Liquid-phase oxidation in the presence of mixed acetates of copper and cobalt yields acetic anhydride [108-24-7] (35). Peroxyacetic acid or a perester is beheved to be the precursor in both syntheses. There are two commercial processes for the production of peracetic acid [79-21 -0]. Low temperature oxidation of acetaldehyde in the presence of metal salts, ultraviolet irradiation, or osone yields acetaldehyde monoperacetate, which can be decomposed to peracetic acid and acetaldehyde (36). Peracetic acid can also be formed directiy by Hquid-phase oxidation at 5—50°C with a cobalt salt catalyst (37) (see Peroxides and peroxy compounds). Nitric acid oxidation of acetaldehyde yields glyoxal [107-22-2] (38,39). Oxidations of /)-xylene to terephthaHc acid [100-21-0] and of ethanol to acetic acid are activated by acetaldehyde (40,41). 

The Acetaldehyde Oxidation Process. Liquid-phase catalytic oxidation of acetaldehyde (qv) can be directed by appropriate catalysts, such as transition metal salts of cobalt or manganese, to produce anhydride (26). Either ethyl acetate or acetic acid may be used as reaction solvent. The reaction proceeds according to the sequence... 

Oxidation catalysts are either metals that chemisorb oxygen readily, such as platinum or silver, or transition metal oxides that are able to give and take oxygen by reason of their having several possible oxidation states. Ethylene oxide is formed with silver, ammonia is oxidized with platinum, and silver or copper in the form of metal screens catalyze the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde. Cobalt catalysis is used in the following oxidations butane to acetic acid and to butyl-hydroperoxide, cyclohexane to cyclohexylperoxide, acetaldehyde to acetic acid and toluene to benzoic acid. PdCh-CuCb is used for many liquid-phase oxidations and V9O5 combinations for many vapor-phase oxidations. 

The process is similar to the catalytic liquid-phase oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde. The difference hetween the two processes is the presence of acetic acid. In practice, acetaldehyde is a major coproduct. The mole ratio of acetaldehyde to vinyl acetate can he varied from 0.3 1 to 2.5 1. The liquid-phase process is not used extensively due to corrosion problems and the formation of a fairly wide variety of by-products. 

Liquid phase oxidation reaction of acetaldehyde with Mn acetate catalyst can be considered as pseudo first order irreversible reaction with respect to oxygen, and the reaction occurred in liquid film. The value of kinetic constant as follow k/ = 6.64.10 exp(-12709/RT), k2 = 244.17 exp(-1.8/RT) and Lj = 3.11.10 exp(-13639/RT) m. kmor. s. The conversion can be increased by increasing gas flow rate and temperature, however the effect of impeller rotation on the conversion is not significant. The highest conversion 32.5% was obtained at the rotation speed of 900 rpm, temperature 55 C, and gas flow rate 10" m. s. The selectivity of acetic acid was affected by impeller rotation speed, gas flow rate and temperature. The highest selectivity of acetic acid was 70.5% at 500 rpm rotation speed, temperature of 55 C... 

Ethyl acetate is an oxygenated solvent widely used in the inks, pharmaceuticals and fragrance sectors. The current global capacity for ethyl acetate is 1.2 million tonnes per annum. BP Chemicals is the world s largest producer of ethyl acetate. Conventional methods for the production of ethyl acetate are either via the liquid phase esterification of acetic acid and ethanol or by the coupling of acetaldehyde also known as the Tischenko reaction. Both of these processes require environmentally unfriendly catalysts (e.g. p-toluenesulphonic acid for the esterification and metal chlorides and strong bases for the Tischenko route). In 1997 BP Chemicals disclosed a new route to produce ethyl acetate directly from the reaction of ethylene with acetic acid using supported heteropoly acids... 

Oxidation of ethyl alcohol was one of the two important commercial routes to acetaldehyde until the 1950s, The other, much older route was the hydration of acetylene. The chemical industry was always after a replacement of acetylene chemistry, not just for acetaldehyde production, but all its many applications. Acetylene was expensive to produce, and with its reactive, explosive nature, it was difficult to handle. In the 1950s, acetylene chemistry and the ethyl alcohol oxidation route were largely phased out by the introduction of the liquid phase direct oxidation of ethylene. Almost all the acetaldehyde produced uses the newer process. 

In 1969, 90% of vinyl acetate was manufactured by this process. By 1975 only 10% was made from acetylene, and in 1980 it was obsolete. Instead, a newer method based on ethylene replaced this old acetylene chemistry. A Wacker catalyst is used in this process similar to that for acetic acid. Since the acetic acid can also be made from ethylene, the basic raw material is solely ethylene, in recent years very economically advantageous as compared to acetylene chemistry. An older liquid-phase process has been replaced by a vapor-phase reaction run at 70-140 psi and 175-200°C. Catalysts may be (1) C—PdCb—CuCb, (2) PdClj—AI2O3, or (3) Pd—C, KOAc. The product is distilled water, acetaldehyde, and some polymer are... 

The hydrogenation of acetic anhydride was also performed in the vapor phase over a supported palladium catalyst resulting in acetaldehyde and acetic acid in high yields (36). To avoid recycling, the reactor was designed for complete reaction of acetic anhydride. Minor selectivity loss was found in formation of ethyl acetate (0.5-1.5%) and methane (0.5%). Typical reaction conditions were 160-200 C, 30-100 psi, with a hydrogen-anhydride ratio of 3 1 to 10 1. A similar catalyst was used in the liquid phase (37). The simplicity and high selectivity of this process is certainly attractive. 

Hazards Associated with Organic Chemical Manufacturing Acetaldehyde by Liquid Phase Ethylene Oxidation, Mitre Corp., McLean, VA, Report No. MTR-79W00364-02, April 1979. 

Selective oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde was carried out over carbon-supported Pd and Pt membrane catalysts.1322 The concept of supported liquid-phase catalysis was also successfully applied in the Wacker oxidation.1323 The Wacker reaction can be performed in alcohol-supercritical C02.1324 C02 as cosolvent accelerates reaction rates and remarkably affects the selectivity towards methyl ketone in the presence of an alcohol. 

Two selective processes are important in the oxidation of ethylene the production of ethylene oxide and acetaldehyde. The first process is specifically catalyzed by silver, the second one by palladium-based catalysts. Silver catalysts are unique and selective for the oxidation of ethylene. No similar situation exists for higher olefins. The effect of palladium catalysts shows a resemblance to the liquid phase oxidation of ethylene in the Wacker process, in which Pd—C2H4 coordination complexes are involved. The high selectivity of the liquid phase process (95%), however, is not matched by the gas phase route at present. 

The oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde in the gas phase, carried out at rather low temperatures (100—200°C), is very similar to the Wacker liquid phase process. One of the main steps in this process is... 

For a long time, only a liquid phase process was employed industrially for the hydration of acetylene to acetaldehyde mercury salts in acidic solution were used as catalysts. Only recent reports can be found in the literature (e.g. ref. 300) on the industrial utilisation of the direct vapour phase hydration of acetylene over solid catalysts. 

The most important synthetic processes are (1) the oxidation of acetaldehyde, and (2) the direct synthesis ftom methyl alcohol and carbon monoxide. The latter reaction must proceed under very high pressure (approximately 650 atmospheres) and at about 250 C. The reaction takes place 111 the liquid phase and dissolved cobaltous iodide... 

The lowest-cost synthetic pyndine base, 2-mcthyl-5-cthylpyridinc, is made in a liquid-phase process from paraldehyde (derived from acetaldehyde) and aqueous ammonia 111 the presence of ammonium acetate at approximately 102- 190 atmospheres and 220-280cC in 70-80% yield. Minor byproducts include 2- and 4-picoline. 

Heterolytic liquid-phase oxidation processes are more recent than homolytic ones. The two major applications are the Wacker process for oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde by air, catalyzed by PdCl2-CuCl2 systems,98 and the Arco oxirane" or Shell process100 for epoxidation of propylene by f-butyl or ethylbenzene hydroperoxide catalyzed by molybdenum or titanium complexes. These heterolytic reactions require less drastic conditions than the homolytic ones... 

The vinyl acetate process exists in both homogeneous and heterogeneous versions. The liquid-phase process developed by ICI is essentially a Wacker reaction performed in acetic acid ethylene, 02 and AcOH are reacted at 110 °C in the presence of PdCl2, Cu(OAc)2 and HC1. Overall yields are greater than 90%. Acetaldehyde is formed as a coproduct in the reaction, owing to the presence... 

Most of the vinyl acetate produced in the United States is made by the vapor-phase ethylene process. In this process, a vapor-phase mixture of ethylene, acetic acid, and oxygen is passed at elevated temperature and pressures over a fixed-bed catalyst consisting of supported palladium (85). Less than 70% oxygen, acetic acid, and ethylene conversion is realized per pass. Therefore, these components have to be recovered and returned to the reaction zone. The vinyl acetate yield using this process is typically in the 91—95% range (86). Vinyl acetate can be manufactured also from acetylene, acetaldehyde, and the liquid-phase ethylene process (see Vinyl polymers). 

Direct Hydration of Ethylene. Hydration of ethylene to ethanol via a liquid-phase process catalyzed by dilute sulfuric acid was first demonstrated more than a hundred years ago (82). In 1923, the passage of an ethylene-steam mixture over alumina at 300°C was found to give a small yield of acetaldehyde, and it was inferred that this was produced via ethanol (83). Since the late 1920s, several industrial concerns have expressed interest in producing ethanol synthetically from ethylene over solid catalysts. However, not until 1947 was the first commercial plant for the manufacture of ethanol by catalytic hydration started in the United States by Shell the same process was commercialized in the United Kingdom in 1951. 

There are two ways to produce acetaldehyde from ethanol oxidation and dehydrogenation. Oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde is carried out in the vapor phase over a silver or copper catalyst (305). Conversion is slighdy over 80% per pass at reaction temperatures of 450—500°C with air as an oxidant. Chloroplatinic acid selectively catalyzes the liquid-phase oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde giving yields exceeding 95%. The reaction takes place in the absence of free oxygen at 80°C and at atmospheric pressure (306). The kinetics of the vapor and liquid-phase oxidation of ethanol have been described in the literature (307,308). 

The major conventional processes for the production of acetic acid include the carbonylation of methanol (originally developed by Monsanto, and now carried out by several companies, such as Celanese-ACID OPTIMIZATION, BP-CATIVA, etc.), the liquid-phase oxidation of acetaldehyde, still carried out by a few companies, and the liquid-phase oxidation of n-butane and naphtha. More recent developments include the gas-phase oxidation of ethylene, developed by Showa Denko K.K., and the liquid-phase oxidation of butenes, developed by Wacker [2a],... 

Acetaldehyde (99.5%) 8750 tonnes metric Liquid-phase hydration of acetylene. 

Peracetic acid can also be formed directly by liquid-phase oxidation at 5 to 50°C with a cobalt salt catalyst. Nitric acid oxidation of acetaldehyde yields glyoxal and the oxidation of p-xylene to terephthalic acid and of ethanol to acetic acid is activated by acetaldehyde. 

The industrially important acetoxylation consists of the aerobic oxidation of ethylene into vinyl acetate in the presence of acetic acid and acetate. The catalytic cycle can be closed in the same way as with the homogeneous Wacker acetaldehyde catalyst, at least in the older liquid-phase processes (320). Current gas-phase processes invariably use promoted supported palladium particles. Related fundamental work describes the use of palladium with additional activators on a wide variety of supports, such as silica, alumina, aluminosilicates, or activated carbon (321-324). In the presence of promotors, the catalysts are stable for several years (320), but they deactivate when the palladium particles sinter and gradually lose their metal surface area. To compensate for the loss of acetate, it is continuously added to the feed. The commercially used catalysts are Pd/Cd on acid-treated bentonite (montmorillonite) and Pd/Au on silica (320). 

Supported liquid-phase catalysts (SLPCs) combine the salient features of both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis for enhanced catalytic and/or process efficiency (337). SLPC catalysts, in which a liquid-phase (homogeneous) catalyst is dispersed within a porous support, have been used in Wacker-type ethylene oxidation for acetaldehyde and vinyl acetate production (337, 338). In the former case, a traditional homogeneous Wacker catalyst (vide supra) consisting of a chlorinated solution of Pd and Cu chlorides retained on a support with monomodal pore size distribution... 

Liquid phase oxidation of hydrocarbons by molecular oxygen forms the basis for a wide variety of petrochemical processes,3 "16 including the manufacture of phenol and acetone from cumene, adipic acid from cyclohexane, terephthalic acid from p-xylene, acetaldehyde and vinyl acetate from ethylene, propylene oxide from propylene, and many others. The majority of these processes employ catalysis by transition metal complexes to attain maximum selectivity and efficiency. 

This section is concerned with the activation of hydrocarbon molecules by coordination to noble metals, particularly palladium.504-513 An important landmark in the development of homogeneous oxidative catalysis by noble metal complexes was the discovery in 1959 of the Wacker process for the conversion of ethylene to acetaldehyde (see below). The success of the Wacker process provided a great stimulus for further studies of the reactions of noble metal complexes, which were found to be extremely versatile in their ability to catalyze homogeneous liquid phase reaction. The following reactions of olefins, for example, are catalyzed by noble metals hydrogenation, hydroformylation, oligomerization and polymerization, hydration, and oxidation. 

The process takes place in two stages. Firstly acetaldehyde and acetic anhydride form ethylidene diacetate in liquid phase at 120-140 °C with FeCl3 as a catalyst ... 

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