Acetone from petroleum oils

Twenty-five years ago the only oxygenated aliphatics produced in important quantities were ethyl and n-butyl alcohols and acetone made by the fermentation of molasses and grain, glycerol made from fats and oils, and methanol and acetic acid made by the pyrolysis of wood. In 1927 the production of acetic acid (from acetylene) and methanol (from synthesis gas) was begun, both made fundamentally from coal. All these oxygenated products are still made from the old raw materials by the same or similar processes, but the amount so made has changed very little in the past quarter century. Nearly all the tremendous growth in the production of this class of compounds has come from petroleum hydrocarbons. 

Female Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed dermally to H]-benzo[a]pyrene (1 ppm) containing petroleum crude oil alone or in fortified soil matrix for 4 days (Yang et al. 1989). Recovery of radioactivity was 35.3% of the dose applied in oil, as follows urine (5.3% of dose), feces (27.5%), and tissues (2.5%) 96 hours after beginning of exposure. Recovery was 9.2% of applied dose with benzo[a]pyrene from petroleum crude-fortified soil recoveries in urine, feces, and tissues were 1.9%, 5.8%, and 1.5%, res 3ectively, at 96 hours. Benzo[a]pyrene (10 ppm) with acetone vehicle or in soil was applied to a 12 cm area of abdominal skin of female rhesus monkeys for 24 hours (Wester et al. 1990). Urine contained 51 22% of the dose with acetone vehicle and 13.2 3.4% with soil. 

Nitrogen was bubbled for five minutes through a solution of 2.0 g (8.9 mmol) of 1.1.12a and 5 mL of propylene oxide in 100 mL of aq. acetone (acetone/water, 95 5). The solution was irradiated (Rayonet photoreactor RPR 208, X = 300 nm) for 4 h. After rota-evaporation of the solvent, the residue was dissolved in ether and extracted with 5% sodium bicarbonate solution. The alkali extract was then cooled and acidified with dil. sulfuric acid. Extraction of the separated oil in ether and concentration of the ether layer gave a solid which was crystallized from petroleum ether to yield 1.28 g (70%) of 1.1.12b, mp 76 -77 °C. 

Dissolve 0 -5 g. of the phenol in 4-5 ml. of dry p ridine, add 1 - 3 g. of 3 5-dinitrobenzoyl chloride and reflux for 25-30 minutes. Pour the cold reaction mixture into 40 ml. of ca. 2N hydrochloric acid. Decant the supernatant aqueous hquid from the precipitated sohd or oil and stir it vigorously with about 10 ml. of N sodium carbonate solution. Filter off the sohd derivative and wash it with water. RecrystaUise from alcohol, dilute alcohol, benzene - acetone or benzene - light petroleum (b.p. 60-80 ),... 

The standard methods (26) of analysis for commercial lecithin, as embodied in the Official and Tentative Methods of the American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS), generally are used in the technical evaluation of lecithin (27). Eor example, the AOCS Ja 4-46 method determines the acetone-insoluble matter under the conditions of the test, free from sand, meal, and other petroleum ether-insoluble material. The phosphoHpids are included in the acetone-insoluble fraction. The substances insoluble in hexane are determined by method AOCS Ja 3-87. 

A mixture of 50 g of betamethasone, 50 cc of dimethylformamide, 50 cc of methyl orthobenzoate and 1.5 g of p-toluenesulfonicacid Is heated for 24 hours on oil bath at 105°C while a slow stream of nitrogen is passed through the mixture and the methanol produced as a byproduct of the reaction is distilled off. After addition of 2 cc of pyridine to neutralize the acid catalyst the solvent and the excess of methyl orthobenzoate are almost completely eliminated under vacuum at moderate temperature. The residue Is chromatographed on a column of 1,500 g of neutral aluminum oxide. By elution with ether-petroleum ether 30 g of a crystalline mixture are obtained consisting of the epimeric mixture of 170 ,21 -methyl orthobenzoates. This mixture is dissolved without further purification, in 600 cc of methanol and 240 cc of methanol and 240 cc of aqueous 2 N oxalic acid are added to the solution. The reaction mixture is heated at 40°-50°C on water bath, then concentrated under vacuum. The residue, crystallized from acetone-ether, gives betamethasone 17-benzoate, MP 225°-231°C. 

When addition is complete the mixture is heated under reflux during 5 hours and then the acetone is removed by distillation. The residue is dissolved in water, acidified with hydrochloric acid and the mixture extracted with chloroform. The chloroform extract is stirred with sodium hydrogen carbonate solution and the aqueous layer is separated. The alkaline extract is acidified with hydrochloric acid and filtered. The solid product is drained free from oil on a filter pump, then washed with petroleum ether (BP 40° to 60°C), and dried at 50°C. The solid residue, MP 114° to 116°C, may be crystallized from methanol (with the addition of charcoal) to give p-chlorophenoxyisobutyric acid, MP 118° to 119°C. 

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