Acetaldehyde preparation

Acetaldehyde. The manufacture of acetaldehyde in Germany by hydration of acetylene is described by Alexander (2) and by Brundrit, Taylor, and Ellis (25). Acetaldehyde preparation by hydrolysis of lower vinyl ethers is brieffy indicated in the latter reference as well as by Reaper and Direnga (55). For complete coverage of the literature on these methods, see references (27,44, 2, 4, 4)-... 

Chemical Summary for Acetaldehyde Prepared by Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1994. Available at www.sekab.com/premivun. 

Pure acetaldehyde is extremely volatile, having b.p. 21°, and its isolation is therefore difficult hence only the preparation of an aqueous solution is described below. 

To prepare acetic acid, aqueous ethanol is added gradually to a hot mixture of aqueous sodium dichromate and sulphuric acid. The oxidising mixture is now always in excess, and therefore the oxidation proceeds as far as possible moreover, the reaction is carried out under reflux, so that any acetaldehyde which volatilises is returned to the oxidising mixture. Hence the final product contains only a small amount of acetaldehyde. 

Technically, acetaldehyde is mainly made by the oxidation of ethylene using a CuCl2/PdCl2 catalyst system.. Although some acetic acid is still prepared by the catalytic oxidation of acetaldehyde, the main process is the catalytic oxidation of paraffins, usually -butane. 

The phenylhydrazones of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are difficult to isolate and are seldom prepared. 

The acetaldehyde should be freshly distilled (b.p. 20-5-21°). It can be conveniently prepared by depolymerising pure dry paraldehyde (see Section 111,65). 

Prepare the acetaldehyde solution by plunging a red hot oxidised copper coil (made by winding a copper wire round a glass tube and heating the resulting coil in a Bunsen dame) into 6 ml. of 60 per cent, alcohol in a Pyrex test-tube. Withdraw the coil, cool the test-tube under the tap, repeat the oxidation several times, and use the cooled solution for the test. 

Ootonic acid may be prepared by condensing acetaldehyde with malonic acid in pyridine solution in the presence of a trace of piperidine (Doebner reaction see discussion following Section IV,123). 

The commercial method consists in the oxidation of crotonaldehyde, which is itself prepared from acetaldehyde (see Section 111,141) ... 

Note 1. Prepared by lithiating HC CCH2C1 at -80°Cwith BuLi in hexane-ether (1 1) and subsequently adding freshly distilled acetaldehyde (compare Ref. 1). 

Although Pd is cheaper than Rh and Pt, it is still expensive. In Pd(0)- or Pd(ll)-catalyzed reactions, particularly in commercial processes, repeated use of Pd catalysts is required. When the products are low-boiling, they can be separated from the catalyst by distillation. The Wacker process for the production of acetaldehyde is an example. For less volatile products, there are several approaches to the economical uses of Pd catalysts. As one method, an alkyldi-phenylphosphine 9, in which the alkyl group is a polyethylene chain, is prepared as shown. The Pd complex of this phosphine has low solubility in some organic solvents such as toluene at room temperature, and is soluble at higher temperature[28]. Pd(0)-catalyzed reactions such as an allylation reaction of nucleophiles using this complex as a catalyst proceed smoothly at higher temperatures. After the reaction, the Pd complex precipitates and is recovered when the reaction mixture is cooled. 

Gassman and co-workers developed a synthetic route from anilines to indoles and oxindoles which involves [2.3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of anilinosul-fonium ylides. These can be prepared from Ai-chloroanilines and ot-thiomcthyl-ketones or from an aniline and a chlorosulfonium salt[l]. The latter sequence is preferable for anilines with ER substituents. Rearrangement and cyclizalion occurs on treatment of the anilinosulfonium salts with EtjN. The initial cyclization product is a 3-(methylthio)indole and these can be desulfurized with Raney nickel. Use of 2-(methylthio)acetaldehyde generates 2,3-unsubstituled indoles after desulfurization[2]. Treatment of 3-methylthioindoles with tri-fiuoroacetic acid/thiosalieylie acid is a possible alternative to Raney nickel for desulfurization[3]. 

Among the other chemicals prepared from ethylene are ethanol and acetaldehyde... 

At one time acetaldehyde was prepared on an industrial scale by this method Modern methods involve direct oxidation of ethylene and are more economical... 

Not so for synthesis in the chemical industry where a compound must be prepared not only on a large scale but at low cost There is a pronounced bias toward reactants and reagents that are both abundant and inexpensive The oxidizing agent of choice for example in the chemical industry is O2 and extensive research has been devoted to develop mg catalysts for preparing various compounds by air oxidation of readily available starting materials To illustrate air and ethylene are the reactants for the industrial preparation of both acetaldehyde and ethylene oxide Which of the two products is ob tamed depends on the catalyst employed... 

The saponification of 0 labeled ethyl propanoate was desenbed in Section 20 11 as one of the significant expenments that demonstrated acyl-oxygen cleavage in ester hydrolysis The 0 labeled ethyl propanoate used in this expenment was prepared from 0 labeled ethyl alcohol which in turn was obtained from acetaldehyde and 0 enriched water Wnte a senes of equations... 

Poly(vinyl alcohol) is a useful water soluble polymer It cannot be prepared directly from vinyl alcohol because of the rapidity with which vinyl alcohol (H2C=CHOH) isomenzes to acetaldehyde Vinyl acetate however does not rearrange and can be polymerized to poly(vinyl acetate) How could you make use of this fact to prepare poly(vinyl alcohol)" ... 

Other fairly recent commercial products, poly(vinyl amine) and poly(vinyl amine vinyl alcohol), have addressed the need for primary amines and their selective reactivity. Prior efforts to synthesize poly(vinyl amine) have been limited because of the difficulty hydrolyzing the intermediate polymers. The current product is prepared from /V-ethenylformamide (20) formed from the reaction of acetaldehyde and formamide. The vinyl amide is polymerized with a free-radical initiator, then hydrolyzed (eq. 7). 

Acetaldehyde [75-07-0] (ethanal), CH CHO, was first prepared by Scheele ia 1774, by the action of manganese dioxide [1313-13-9] and sulfuric acid [7664-93-9] on ethanol [64-17-5]. The stmcture of acetaldehyde was estabhshed in 1835 by Liebig from a pure sample prepared by oxidising ethyl alcohol with chromic acid. Liebig named the compound "aldehyde" from the Latin words translated as al(cohol) dehyd(rogenated). The formation of acetaldehyde by the addition of water [7732-18-5] to acetylene [74-86-2] was observed by Kutscherow] in 1881. 

Mercaptals, CH2CH(SR)2, are formed in a like manner by the addition of mercaptans. The formation of acetals by noncatalytic vapor-phase reactions of acetaldehyde and various alcohols at 35°C has been reported (67). Butadiene [106-99-0] can be made by the reaction of acetaldehyde and ethyl alcohol at temperatures above 300°C over a tantala—siUca catalyst (68). Aldol and crotonaldehyde are beheved to be intermediates. Butyl acetate [123-86-4] has been prepared by the catalytic reaction of acetaldehyde with 1-butanol [71-36-3] at 300°C (69). 

Miscellaneous Reactions. Sodium bisulfite adds to acetaldehyde to form a white crystalline addition compound, insoluble in ethyl alcohol and ether. This bisulfite addition compound is frequendy used to isolate and purify acetaldehyde, which may be regenerated with dilute acid. Hydrocyanic acid adds to acetaldehyde in the presence of an alkaU catalyst to form cyanohydrin the cyanohydrin may also be prepared from sodium cyanide and the bisulfite addition compound. Acrylonittile [107-13-1] (qv) can be made from acetaldehyde and hydrocyanic acid by heating the cyanohydrin that is formed to 600—700°C (77). Alanine [302-72-7] can be prepared by the reaction of an ammonium salt and an alkaU metal cyanide with acetaldehyde this is a general method for the preparation of a-amino acids called the Strecker amino acids synthesis. Grignard reagents add readily to acetaldehyde, the final product being a secondary alcohol. Thioacetaldehyde [2765-04-0] is formed by reaction of acetaldehyde with hydrogen sulfide thioacetaldehyde polymerizes readily to the trimer. 

Acetic anhydride adds to acetaldehyde in the presence of dilute acid to form ethyUdene diacetate [542-10-9], boron fluoride also catalyzes the reaction (78). Ethyfldene diacetate decomposes to the anhydride and aldehyde at temperatures of 220—268°C and initial pressures of 14.6—21.3 kPa (110—160 mm Hg) (79), or upon heating to 150°C in the presence of a zinc chloride catalyst (80). Acetone (qv) [67-64-1] has been prepared in 90% yield by heating an aqueous solution of acetaldehyde to 410°C in the presence of a catalyst (81). Active methylene groups condense acetaldehyde. The reaction of isobutfyene/715-11-7] and aqueous solutions of acetaldehyde in the presence of 1—2% sulfuric acid yields alkyl-y -dioxanes 2,4,4,6-tetramethyl-y -dioxane [5182-37-6] is produced in yields up to 90% (82). 

The nameplate capacities for acetaldehyde production for the United States in 1989 are shown in Table 5 (120). Synthetic pyridine derivatives, peracetic acid, acetate esters by the Tischenko route, and pentaerythritol account for 40% of acetaldehyde demand. This sector may show strong growth in some products but all of these materials maybe prepared from alternative processes. 

Acetaldehyde oxidation to anhydride does not consume great amounts of energy. The strongly exothermic reaction actually furnishes energy and the process is widely used in Europe. Acetaldehyde must be prepared from either acetylene or ethylene. Unfortunately, use of these raw materials cancels the other advantages of this route. Further development of more efficient acetaldehyde oxidation as weU as less expensive materials of constmction would make that process more favorable. 

In the United States butadiene was prepared initially from ethanol and later by cracking four-carbon hydrocarbon streams (see Butadiene). In Germany butadiene was prepared from acetylene via the following steps acetylene — acetaldehyde — 3-hydroxybutyraldehyde — 1,3-butanediol — ... 

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