Acetic acid, rhodium salt

Rhodium diacetate dimer Acetic acid, rhodium(2+) salt (8,9) (5503-41-3)... 

R)-(+)-2-Pyrrolidone-5-carboxylic acid D-Proline, 5-oxo- (8,9) (4042-36-8) Rhodium(ll) acetate Acetic acid, rhodium(2+) salt (8,9) (5503-41-3)... 

The two catalyst components are rhodium and iodide, which can be added in many forms. A large excess of iodide may be present. Rhodium is present as the anionic species RhI2(CO)2. Typically the rhodium concentration is 10 mM and the iodide concentration is 1.5 M, of which 20% occurs in the form of salts. The temperature is about 180 °C and the pressure is 50 bar. The methyl iodide formation from methanol is almost complete, which makes the reaction rate also practically independent of the methanol concentration. In other words, at any conversion level (except for very low methanol levels) the production rate is the same. For a continuous reactor this has the advantage that it can be operated at a high conversion level. As a result the required separation of methanol, methyl acetate, methyl iodide, and rhodium iodide from the product acetic acid is much easier. 

The reaction of alcohols with CO can also be catalysed by palladium iodides, and various ligands or solvents. Acetic acid is prepared by the reaction of MeOH with CO in the presence of a catalyst system comprising a palladium compound, an ionic iodide compound, a sulfone solvent at conditions similar to those of the rhodium system (180 °C, 60 bar), and, in some cases, traces of a nickel-bipyridine compound were added. Sulfones or phosphine oxides play a stabilising role in preventing metal precipitation [26], Palladium(II) salts catalyse the carbonylation of methyl iodide in methanol to methyl acetate in the presence of an excess of iodide, even without amine or phosphine co-ligands platinum(II) salts are less effective [27],... 

An alternative scheme to simultaneous formation of acetaldehyde and acetic anhydride could entail the carbonylation of methyl acetate to acetic anhydride which is subsequently reduced to acetaldehyde and acetic acid. The reaction of acetaldehyde with excess anhydride would form EDA. In fact, Fenton has described production of EDA by the reduction of acetic anhydride using both rhodium and palladium salts as catalysts when modified with triphenylphosphine (26). Two possible mechanisms for the reduction are postulated in equation 16. 

Reactions of ruthenium catalyst precursors in carboxylic acid solvents with various salt promoters have also been described (170-172, 197) (Table XV, Expt. 7). For example, in acetic acid solvent containing acetate salts of quaternary phosphonium or cesium cations, ruthenium catalysts are reported to produce methyl acetate and smaller quantities of ethyl acetate and glycol acetates (170-172). Most of these reactions also include halide ions the ruthenium catalyst precursor is almost invariably RuC13 H20. The carboxylic acid is not a necessary component in these salt-promoted reactions as shown above, nonreactive solvents containing salt promoters also allow production of ethylene glycol with similar or better rates and selectivities. The addition of a rhodium cocatalyst to salt-promoted ruthenium catalyst solutions in carboxylic acid solvents has been reported to increase the selectivity to the ethylene glycol product (198). 

The mechanism for the reaction is believed to be as shown in Eq. 15.170 (start with CH3OH, lower right, and end with CHjCOOH, lower left).180 The reaction can be initiated with any rhodium salt, e.g., RhCl3, and a source of iodine, the two combining with CO to produce the active catalyst, IRItfCO y. The methyl iodide arises from the reaction of methanol and hydrogen iodide. Note that the catalytic loop involves oxidative addition, insertion, and reductive elimination, with a net production of acetic acid from the insertion of carbon monoxide into methanol. The rhodium shuttles between the +1 and +3 oxidation states. The cataylst is so efficient that the reaction will proceed at atmospheric pressure, although in practice the system is... 

The dimeric tetraacetato bridged Rh2(OCOCH3)4 has been obtained by the interaction of ammonium chlororhodate(III) or rhodium (III) hydroxide with acetic acid.1-3 Other (car-boxylato)rhodium(II) compounds were prepared directly in a similar way or from the acetate by exchange.2,3 Halo car-boxylates (RCOO, R = CC13, CF3, CH2C1, etc.) were prepared also by interaction of rhodium trichloride with the appropriate sodium salt in ethanol.4 The carboxylatcs are normally first isolated as a solvent adduct, e.g., [Rh(OCOR)2-C2H5OH]2 but are easily converted to the unsolvated complex. The acetate is readily prepared in a modification of this last procedure. A similar method is satisfactory for the preparation of other lower carboxylates as well as halo carboxylates. 

Rhodium compounds and complexes are also commercially important catalysts. The hydroformylation of propene to butanal (a precursor of hfr(2-ethyUiexyl) phthalate, the PVC plasticizer) is catalyzed by hydridocarbonylrhodium(I) complexes. Iodo(carbonyl)rhodium(I) species catalyze the production of acetic acid from methanol. In the flne chemical industry, rhodium complexes with chiral ligands catalyze the production of L-DOPA, used in the treatment of Parkinson s disease. Rhodium(II) carboxylates are increasingly important as catalysts in the synthesis of cyclopropyl compounds from diazo compounds. Many of the products are used as synthetic, pyrethroid insecticides. Hexacyanorhodate(III) salts are used to dope silver halides in photographic emulsions to reduce grain size and improve gradation. 

Several C-labelled tetraphenyl arsonium salts of Rh(III) containing complex anions have been synthesized to investigate, by the N.M.R. method, the mechanism of the rhodium/iodine-catalysed industrial carbonylation of methanol used for acetic acid manufacture. A revised catalytic cycle for the reaction has been proposed (equation... 

Alkenes are converted to epoxides by oxidation with peroxy acids, and thereby they are protected with regard to certain chemical transformations. Alkaline hydrogen peroxide selectively attacks enone double bonds in the presence of other alkenes. The epoxides can be transformed back to alkenes by reduction-dehydration sequences or using triphenylphosphine, chromous salts, zinc, or sodium iodide and acetic acid. A more advantageous and fairly general method consists, however, of the treatment of epoxides with dimethyl diazomalonate in the presence of catalytic amounts of binuclear rhodium(II) car-boxylate salts. This deoxygenation proceeds under neutral conditions and without isomerization or cy-clopropanation of the liberated alkene (Scheme 97). Furthermore, epoxides can be converted to alkenes with the aid of various metal carbonyl complexes. Thus, they may be nucleophilically opened with... 

C) on a continuous basis, and product solution flows from the reactor into a flash-tank where the initial separation of product from catalyst is achieved. Reduction of pressure in the flash-tank causes vaporization of most of the volatile components while the catalyst remains dissolved in the liquid phase and is recycled back to the reactor. The product stream is directed into a distillation train to remove methyl iodide, water, and heavier by-products from the acetic acid product. The "heavies" include propionic acid and higher-molecular-weight organics arising from condensation reactions of acetaldehyde. Higher alkyl iodides can also form, especially if iodide salts are added to the rhodium catalyst. 

A process for the coproduction of acetic anhydride and acetic acid, which has been operated by BP Chemicals since 1988, uses a quaternary ammonium iodide salt in a role similar to that of Lil [8]. Beneficial effects on rhodium-complex-catalyzed methanol carbonylation have also been found for other additives. For example, phosphine oxides such as Ph3PO enable high catalyst rates at low water concentrations without compromising catalyst stability [40—42]. Similarly, iodocarbonyl complexes of ruthenium and osmium (as used to promote iridium systems, Section 3) are found to enhance the activity of a rhodium catalyst at low water concentrations [43,44]. Other compounds reported to have beneficial effects include phosphate salts [45], transition metal halide salts [46], and oxoacids and heteropolyacids and their salts [47]. 

The synthesis of acetic acid is one of the most rapidly growing chemical applications for methanol. The process for manufacture of acetic acid was developed by Monsanto. The reaction runs at a temperature of 150-200°C and a pressure of 30.62 atm. The catalyst used is rhodium salts with certain ligands and in the presence of an iodine compound. The reaction is ... 

Acetic anhydride is used in the manufacture of cellulose acetate-based film, cigarette filters, and plastics. Eastman Chemical developed a process that is based on gasification of coal in a Texaco gasifier to make synthesis gas which then is converted to methanol. The methanol is converted to methyl acetate by esterification with acetic acid and then carbonylated. The carbonylation process uses rhodium salt catalysts with ligands and an iodine promoter [30]. 

Transition metal salts and complexes also serve as homogeneous catalysts. In the Monsanto process, rhodium salts plus iodide convert methanol and carbon monoxide into an industrially useful carboxylic acid, acetic acid. The rhodium metal serves as the primary reaction site it binds the reactants and subsequently unbinds the products. The key reactions at the metal reaction site are called oxidative addition and reductive elimination. 

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