Heterogeneous acid catalysts

Develop and promote the use of solid acid catalysts (heterogenizing processes) ... 

If poly(vinyl alcohol) films are reacted with formaldehyde in water containing salt and an acid catalyst (heterogeneous formalization), crosslinking occurs. The number of the crosslinks increases with decreasing acid concentration and fixed amounts of formaldehyde and salt. ... 

Diisopropjibenzenes (DIPB) are readily obtained via Eriedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene or cumene by propylene. This reaction inhquid phase has not evolved drastically since 1980 with the exception of the large variety of heterogeneous acid catalysts that are now being used, mainly zeoHtes, type HZSM-12, giving a para/meta ratio = 0.7 (4). In fact, propylene can also be replaced by isopropyl alcohol coming from the hydrogenation of acetone that... 

Esterification. Extensive commercial use is made of primary amyl acetate, a mixture of 1-pentyl acetate [28-63-7] and 2-metliylbutyl acetate [53496-15-4]. Esterifications with acetic acid are generally conducted in the Hquid phase in the presence of a strong acid catalyst such as sulfuric acid (34). Increased reaction rates are reported when esterifications are carried out in the presence of heteropoly acids supported on macroreticular cation-exchange resins (35) and 2eohte (36) catalysts in a heterogeneous process. Judging from the many patents issued in recent years, there appears to be considerable effort underway to find an appropriate soHd catalyst for a reactive distillation esterification process to avoid the product removal difficulties of the conventional process. 

Pyrrohdinone can be alkylated by reaction with an alkyl haUde or sulfate and an alkaline acid acceptor (63,64). This reaction can be advantageously carried out with a phase-transfer catalyst (65). Alkylation can also be accompHshed with alcohols and either copper chromite or heterogenous acid catalysts... 

It is carried out in the Hquid phase at 100—130°C and catalyzed by a soluble molybdenum naphthenate catalyst, also in a series of reactors with interreactor coolers. The dehydration of a-phenylethanol to styrene takes place over an acidic catalyst at about 225°C. A commercial plant (50,51) was commissioned in Spain in 1973 by Halcon International in a joint venture with Enpetrol based on these reactions, in a process that became known as the Oxirane process, owned by Oxirane Corporation, a joint venture of ARCO and Halcon International. Oxirane Corporation merged into ARCO in 1980 and this process is now generally known as the ARCO process. It is used by ARCO at its Channelview, Texas, plant and in Japan and Korea in joint ventures with local companies. A similar process was developed by Shell (52—55) and commercialized in 1979 at its Moerdijk plant in the Netherlands. The Shell process uses a heterogeneous catalyst of titanium oxide on siHca support in the epoxidation step. Another plant by Shell is under constmction in Singapore (ca 1996). 

Manufacture. PVBs are manufactured by a variety of two-stage heterogeneous processes. In one of these an alcohol solution of poly(vinyl acetate) and an acid catalyst are heated to 60—80°C with strong agitation. As the poly(vinyl alcohol) forms, it precipitates from solution (77). Ethyl acetate, the principle by-product, is stripped off and sold. The precipitated poly(vinyl alcohol) is washed to remove by-products and excess acid. The poly(vinyl alcohol) is then suspended in a mixture of ethyl alcohol, butyraldehyde, and mineral acid at temperatures above 70°C. As the reaction approaches completion the reactants go into solution. When the reaction is complete, the catalyst is neutralized and the PVB is precipitated from solution with water, washed, centrifuged, and dried. Resin from this process has very low residual vinyl acetate and very low levels of gel from intermolecular acetalization. 

The principal appHcation of boron phosphate has been as a heterogeneous acid catalyst (158). 

The dehydration of 1-hexanol to hexene was conducted over heterogeneous sulfated zirconium oxide catalyst [19, 138]. The zirconia was treated with sulfuric acid and is known as super acid catalyst, having well documented performance for many reactions [19]. The reaction conditions are notably milder as for other acid catalysts, such as silica-alumina. 

The hydroamination of alkenes has been performed in the presence of heterogeneous acidic catalysts such as zeolites, amorphous aluminosilicates, phosphates, mesoporous oxides, pillared interlayered clays (PILCs), amorphous oxides, acid-treated sheet silicates or NafioN-H resins. They can be used either under batch conditions or in continuous operation at high temperature (above 200°C) under high pressure (above 100 bar). 

In some cases the effect of the nature of aromatic hydrogen substituent has been also observed (Table 48.2). These results contrast with those obtained using typical homogeneous Bronsted acid catalysts (e.g., sulphuric) for the acylation of the same substrate with acetic anhydride, under the same experimental conditions, where the yields (98%, 95%, 91% for R=N02, H, OMe, respectively) do not significantly depend on the nucleophile s substituent nature [23]. These data imderline the contribution of the heterogeneous catalyst. 

Acids that have weakly nucleophilic anions, e.g. HS04e from dilute aqueous H2S04, are chosen as catalysts, so that their anions will offer little competition to H20 any R0S03H formed will in any case be hydrolysed to ROH under the conditions of the reaction. Rearrangement of the carbocationic intermediate may take place, and electrophilic addition of it to as yet unprotonated alkene is also known (p. 185). The reaction is used on the large scale to convert cracked petroleum alkene fractions to alcohols by vapour phase hydration with steam over heterogeneous acid catalysts. Also under acid catalysis, ROH may be added to alkenes to yield ethers, and RCOzH to yield esters. 

Several other miscellaneous heterogeneously catalyzed reactions have been performed in the liquid phase. Hexane was successfully oxyfunctionalized with aqueous hydrogen peroxide by use of the zeolite TS-1 catalyst [50] and microwave-promoted acetalization of a number of aldehydes and ketones with ethylene glycol proceeded readily (2 min) in the presence both of heterogeneous (acidic alumina) and homogeneous (PTSA, Lewis acids) catalysts [51], Scheme 10.7. 

Kabza KG, Chapados BR, Gestwicki JE, McGrath JL (2000) Microwave-induced esterification using heterogeneous acid catalyst in a low dielectric constant medium. J Org Chem 65 1210-1214... 

The production of sulphuric acid by the contact process, introduced in about 1875, was the first process of industrial significance to utilize heterogeneous catalysts. In this process, SO2 was oxidized on a platinum catalyst to S03, which was subsequently absorbed in aqueous sulphuric acid. Later, the platinum catalyst was superseded by a catalyst containing vanadium oxide and alkali-metal sulphates on a silica carrier, which was cheaper and less prone to poisoning. Further development of the vanadium catalysts over the last decades has led to highly optimized modem sulphuric acid catalysts, which are all based on the vanadium-alkali sulphate system. 

Sulphuric acid catalysts are not truly heterogeneous catalysts but so-called supported liquid phase (SLP) catalysts, where the oxidation of S02 takes place as a homogeneous reaction in a liquid film covering the internal surface of the support material [2], This was proposed already in 1940 by Frazer and Kirkpatrick [6], who found that the promoting action of the common alkali metals was due to their ability to form relatively low-melting pyrosulphates, which dissolve vanadium oxides, e.g. for potassium... 

In the Takasago process ZnBr2 is used as the Lewis acid catalyst for the ring closure. Recently, zeolite Sn-Beta has been reported [20] as a heterogeneous and... 

In typical stereochemical experiments, the reactivity of two or more compounds of the same structure but of different configuration is compared either in separate or competitive experiments. The method has been reviewed several times for heterogeneous catalytic reactions, mostly with respect to reactions of hydrocarbons on metals (16-18). The results concerning eliminations on acidic catalysts have been summarized in an article dealing with the mechanism of this type of reactions (12). Clarke and Rooney (17) have broadened the notion of the stereochemical approach to heterogeneous catalysis when they included into it all work in which mechanistic conclu-... 

Joseph JK, Jain SL, Sain B (2006) Ion exchange resins as recyclable and heterogeneous solid acid catalysts for the Biginelli condensation an improved protocol for the synthesis of 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2-ones. J Mol Catal A Chem 247 99-102... 

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