Acetone, manufacture

Normal butyl alcohol (NBA) was first recovered in the 1920s as a by-product of acetone manufacture via cornstarch fermentation. That route is almost extinct now. A small percent is still made from acetaldehyde. The primary source of NBA, however, is the Oxo process. 

Isopropyl alcohol is used for a coatings solvent (30%), a processing solvent (25%), household and personal care products (15%), pharmaceuticals (15%), and acetone manufacture (7%). 

Acetogenins, structural chemistry, 136-8 Acetone, manufacture, 617 Acetonitrile... 

Three processes are currently used for acetone manufacture ... 

By the action of a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids on the by-products of acetone manufacture. ... 

Several plants have been built operating according to the two-stage technology (Figure 4) [48, 49] quite analogously to the acetaldehyde process described above, with air as oxidant and a catalyst cycle. An important by-product in acetone manufacture is propionaldehyde, which is separated by extractive distillation... 

Fig. 10.5. Acetone manufacture by liquid phase dehydrogenation of isopropyl alcohol. IFP process. 

The microbiological method soon found itself in competition with the growing petrochemical industry, and in the United Kingdom the use of fermentation for acetone manufacture was stopped in 1957. However, the method is still used in some parts of the world, notably in China, where oil is in short supply. Given the present dominance of fermentation in the ethanol market in the United States, it would not be surprising to see some of their current needs for acetone, butan-l-ol and propan-2-ol production (Table 6.2) being supplied by a return to fermentation. 

Figure 14.8a shows a simplified flowsheet for the manufacture of acetic anhydride as presented by Jeffries. Acetone feed is cracked in a furnace to ketene and the byproduct methane. The methane is used as furnace fuel. A second reactor forms acetic anhydride by the reaction between ketene from the first reaction and acetic acid. 

CH =C(CH3)C02Me. Colourless liquid b.p. lOO C. Manufactured by healing acetone cyanohydrin with methanol and sulphuric acid. It is usually supplied containing dissolved polymerization inhibitor, on removal of which it is readily polymerized to a glass-like polymer. See acrylate resins. 

CH3CH2OHCH3. B.p. 82 C. Manufactured by hydrolysis of propene. Used in the production of acetone (propanone) by oxidation, for the preparation of esters (e.g. the ethanoate used as a solvent), amines (diisopropylamines, etc.), glycerol, hydrogen peroxide. The alcohol is used as an important solvent for many resins, aerosols, anti-freezes. U.S. production 1978 775 000 tonnes. 

Absolute methyl alcohol. The synthetic methanol now available is suitable for most purposes without purification indeed, some manufacturers claim a purity of 99 85 per cent, with not more than 0 1 per cent, by weight of water and not more than 0 02 per cent, by weight of acetone. Frequently, however, the acetone content may be as high as 0 1 per cent, and the water content 0-5-1 per cent. 

Until World War 1 acetone was manufactured commercially by the dry distillation of calcium acetate from lime and pyroligneous acid (wood distillate) (9). During the war processes for acetic acid from acetylene and by fermentation supplanted the pyroligneous acid (10). In turn these methods were displaced by the process developed for the bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates (cornstarch and molasses) to acetone and alcohols (11). At one time Pubhcker Industries, Commercial Solvents, and National Distillers had combined biofermentation capacity of 22,700 metric tons of acetone per year. Biofermentation became noncompetitive around 1960 because of the economics of scale of the isopropyl alcohol dehydrogenation and cumene hydroperoxide processes. 

Containers less than bulk must bear the red diamond-shaped "FLAMMABLE LIQUID" label. Bulk containers must display the red "FLAMMABLE" placard in association with the UN1090 identification. Fire is the main ha2ard in emergencies resulting from spills. Some manufacturers provide transportation emergency response information. A listing of properties and ha2ard response information for acetone is pubHshed by the U.S. 

CeUulose triacetate is insoluble in acetone, and other solvent systems are used for dry extmsion, such as chlorinated hydrocarbons (eg, methylene chloride), methyl acetate, acetic acid, dimethylformamide, and dimethyl sulfoxide. Methylene chloride containing 5—15% methanol or ethanol is most often employed. Concerns with the oral toxicity of methylene chloride have led to the recent termination of the only triacetate fiber preparation faciHty in the United States, although manufacture stiH exists elsewhere in the world (49). 

Chemical Uses. In Europe, products such as ethylene, acetaldehyde, acetic acid, acetone, butadiene, and isoprene have been manufactured from acetylene at one time. Wartime shortages or raw material restrictions were the basis for the choice of process. Coking coal was readily available in Europe and acetylene was easily accessible via calcium carbide. 

Tripotassium hexakiscyanoferrate [13746-66-2] K2[Fe(CN)g], forms anhydrous red crystals. The crystalline material is dimorphic both orthorhombic and monoclinic forms are known. The compound is obtained by chemical or electrolytic oxidation of hexacyanoferrate(4—). K2[Fe(CN)g] is soluble in water and acetone, but insoluble in alcohol. It is used in the manufacture of pigments, photographic papers, leather (qv), and textiles and is used as a catalyst in oxidation and polymerisation reactions. 

Ketones are an important class of industrial chemicals that have found widespread use as solvents and chemical intermediates. Acetone (qv) is the simplest and most important ketone and finds ubiquitous use as a solvent. Higher members of the aUphatic methyl ketone series (eg, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, and methyl amyl ketone) are also industrially significant solvents. Cyclohexanone is the most important cycHc ketone and is primarily used in the manufacture of y-caprolactam for nylon-6 (see Cyclohexanoland cyclohexanone). Other ketones find appHcation in fields as diverse as fragrance formulation and metals extraction. Although the industrially important ketones are reviewed herein, the laboratory preparation of ketones is covered elsewhere (1). 

DIBK can be produced by the hydrogenation of phorone which, in turn, is produced by the acid-catalyzed aldol condensation of acetone. It is also a by-product in the manufacture of methyl isobutyl ketone. Diisobutyl ketone ( 1.37/kg, October 1994) is produced in the United States by Union Carbide (Institute, West Virginia) and Eastman (Kingsport, Teimessee) (47), and is mainly used as a coating solvent. Catalytic hydrogenation of diisobutyl ketone produces the alcohol 2,6-dimethyl-4-heptanol [108-82-7]. 

Methyl Amyl Ketone. Methyl amyl ketone [110-43-0] (MAK) (2-heptanone) is a colorless Hquid with a faint fmity (banana) odor. It is found in oil of cloves and cinnamon-bark oil, and is manufactured by the condensation of acetone and butyraldehyde (158). Other preparations are known (159-162). 

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Process. The commercial MMA manufacturing process based on sulfuric acid and acetone cyanohydrin suffers from the large quantities of ammonium sulfate produced. Because ammonium sulfate has only low value as fertili2er, regeneration of sulfuric acid from ammonium sulfate [7783-20-2] is required. Despite the drawbacks of using sulfuric acid, this technology is stiU the most widely practiced... 

Another method of manufacture involves the oxidation of 2-isopropylnaphthalene ia the presence of a few percent of 2-isopropylnaphthalene hydroperoxide/i)ti< 2-22-(y as the initiator, some alkaU, and perhaps a transition-metal catalyst, with oxygen or air at ca 90—100°C, to ca 20—40% conversion to the hydroperoxide the oxidation product is cleaved, using a small amount of ca 50 wt % sulfuric acid as the catalyst at ca 60°C to give 2-naphthalenol and acetone in high yield (70). The yields of both 2-naphthalenol and acetone from the hydroperoxide are 90% or better. 

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