Acetylene synthesis from methane

Selective synthesis of acetylene (>90%) from methane was accomplished by microwave plasma reactions.568 Conversion of methane to acetylene by using direct current pulse discharge was performed under conditions of ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure.569 The selectivity of acetylene was >95% at methane conversion levels ranging from 16 to 52%. In this case oxygen was used to effectively remove deposited carbon and stabilize the state of discharge. Similar high... 

Methane is an important starting material for numerous other chemicals. The most important of these are ammonia, methanol, acetylene, synthesis gas, formaldehyde, chlorinated methanes, and chlorofluorocarbons. Methane is used in the petrochemical industry to produce synthesis gas or syn gas, which is then used as a feedstock in other reactions. Synthesis gas is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. It is produced through steam-methane reforming by reacting methane with steam at approximately 900°C in the presence of a metal catalyst CH4 + H20 —> CO + 3H2. Alternately, methane is partially oxidized and the energy from its partial combustion is used to produce syn gas ... 

The methods for the synthesis of alkynes have been extensively reviewed in the past 20 years two books, which deal particularly with the preparative aspects of alkyne chemistry, have been published. Except for the syntheses of acetylene and propyne, which are prepared in technical processes from carbides, from methane by oxidation, or by electric arc processes, all carbon-carbon triple bonds must be generated by an elimination reaction. Again, as in the synthesis of alkenes, the most important is the de-hydrohalogenation. 

Synthesis of acetylene from methane is thermodynamically feasible. In the range of reaction conditions considered, the equilibrium mixture contains predominantly acetylene. 

The concentration of is determined by measurement of the specific P-activity. Usually, the carbon from the sample is converted into a gas, eg, carbon dioxide, methane, or acetylene, and introduced into a gas-proportional counter. Alternatively, Hquid-scintiHation counting is used after a benzene synthesis. The limit of the technique, ca 50,000 yr, is determined largely by the signal to background ratio and counting statistics. 

Example describes the synthesis of acetylene (C2 H2) from calcium carbide (CaC2). Modem industrial production of acetylene is based on a reaction of methane (CH4) under carefully controlled conditions. At temperatures greater than 1600 K, two methane molecules rearrange to give three molecules of hydrogen and... 

With regard to starting materials, a total synthesis must start from materials that, ultimately, can be reduced to the elements. Since the only organic compounds, apart from urea, that can be prepared from the elements are acetylene, methane and methanol, a total synthesis must be reduced to them. This does not mean that the chemist must always start from these basic materials, but from compounds -the more elaborated the better- that are derived from them rather than from natural compounds with the basic carbon skeleton already present, but not previously synthesised, since in such a case, we should refer to partial synthesis. 

Other catalytic reactions carried out in fluidized-bed reactors are the oxidation of naphthalene to phthalic anhydride [2, 6, 80] the ammoxidation of isobutane to mcthacrylonitrilc [2] the synthesis of maleic anhydride from the naphtha cracker C4 fraction (Mitsubishi process [81, 82]) or from n-butane (ALMA process [83], [84]) the reaction of acetylene with acetic acid to vinyl acetate [2] the oxychlorination of ethylene to 1,2-di-chloroethane [2, 6, 85, 86] the chlorination of methane [2], the reaction of phenol with methanol to cresol and 2,6-xylenol [2, 87] the reaction of methanol to gasoline... 

The synthesis of acetylene from natural gas is a simple process. Natural gas consists mostly of methane, which forms acetylene when it is heated for a very short period of time. 

It occurs catalytically on the surface of Fe nanoparticles grown from Fe(CO)5. Also, the conventional synthesis of nanotubes by catalytic CVD from acetylene or methane can be formally considered as redox reaction. Nevertheless, the electrochemical model of carbonization (Sections 4.1.1 and 4.1.2) is hardly applicable for CVD and HiPco, since the nanotubes grow on the catalyst particle by apposition from the gas phase, and not from the barrier film (Figure 4.1). The yield and quality of electrochemically made nanotubes are usually not competitive to those of catalytic processes in carbon arc, laser ablation, CVD and HiPco. However, this methodology demonstrated that nanotubes (and also fullerenes and onions (Section 4.3)) can be prepared by soft chemistry" at room or sub-room temperatures [4,5,101]. Secondly, some electrochemical syntheses of nanotubes do not require a catalyst [4,5,95-98,100,101]. This might be attractive if high-purity, metal-free tubes are required. 

Desulfurization of petroleum feedstock (FBR), catalytic cracking (MBR or FI BR), hydrodewaxing (FBR), steam reforming of methane or naphtha (FBR), water-gas shift (CO conversion) reaction (FBR-A), ammonia synthesis (FBR-A), methanol from synthesis gas (FBR), oxidation of sulfur dioxide (FBR-A), isomerization of xylenes (FBR-A), catalytic reforming of naphtha (FBR-A), reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline (FBR), butadiene from n-butanes (FBR-A), ethylbenzene by alkylation of benzene (FBR), dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene (FBR), methyl ethyl ketone from sec-butyl alcohol (by dehydrogenation) (FBR), formaldehyde from methanol (FBR), disproportionation of toluene (FBR-A), dehydration of ethanol (FBR-A), dimethylaniline from aniline and methanol (FBR), vinyl chloride from acetone (FBR), vinyl acetate from acetylene and acetic acid (FBR), phosgene from carbon monoxide (FBR), dichloroethane by oxichlorination of ethylene (FBR), oxidation of ethylene to ethylene oxide (FBR), oxidation of benzene to maleic anhydride (FBR), oxidation of toluene to benzaldehyde (FBR), phthalic anhydride from o-xylene (FBR), furane from butadiene (FBR), acrylonitrile by ammoxidation of propylene (FI BR)... 

Although alcohol has been produced by the hydrogenation of acetaldehyde obtained from the hydration of acetylene, this source is relatively unimportant ordinarily. It does, however, furnish a means for the synthesis of ethanol from such sources of carbon as calcium carbide, methane, the carbon arc, etc., which might become of importaice during periods of war, or in locations where very cheap electric power is available. Experiments on a technical scale78 in Switzerland have shown the process to be successful but at a cost too high to make the process competitive. 

Town or coal gas is that supplied from the local gas works and consists chiefly of a mixture of hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide. Natural gas consists of a mixture of hydrocarbons, but natural gas from the North Sea is chiefly methane and therefore, in addition to its use as a fuel, may be employed as a starting material in the synthesis of other chemicals, for example, ammonia, acetylene, and alcohols. 

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