Acrylic acids homogeneous catalysis

The production of carboxylic acids via carbonylation catalysis is the second most important industrial homogeneous group of processes. Reppe developed most of the basic carbonylation chemistry in the 1930s and 1940s. The first commercial carbonylation process was the stoichiometric Ni(CO)4-based hydroxycarbonylation of acetylene to give acrylic acid (see Section 3.5 for details). This discovery has since evolved into a trae Ni-catalyzed process, used mainly by BASF. The introduction of rhodium catalysts in the 1970s revolutionized carboxylic acid production, particularly for acetic acid, much in the same way that Rh/PPhs catalysts changed the importance of hydroformylation catalysis. 

Figure 3. Catalytic life cycles homogeneous versus heterogeneous catalysis, taking the bulk chemical acrylic acid as an example.

Among such oxidations, note that liquid-phase oxidations of solid paraffins in the presence of heterogeneous and colloidal forms of manganese are accompanied by a substantial increase (compared with homogeneous catalysis) in acid yield [3]. The effectiveness of n-paraffin oxidations by Co(III) macrocomplexes is high, but the selectivity is low the ratio between fatty acids, esters, ketones and alcohols is 3 3 3 1. Liquid-phase oxidations of paraffins proceed in the presence of Cu(II) and Mn(II) complexes boimd with copolymers of vinyl ether, P-pinene and maleic anhydride (Amberlite IRS-50) [130]. Oxidations of both linear and cyclic olefins have been studied more intensively. Oxidations of linear olefins proceed by a free-radical mechanism the accumulation of epoxides, ROOH, RCHO, ketones and RCOOH in the course of the reaction testifies to the chain character of these reactions. The main requirement for these processes is selectivity non-catalytic oxidation of propylene (at 423 K) results in the formation of more than 20 products. Acrylic acid is obtained by oxidation of propylene (in water at 338 K) in the presence of catalyst by two steps at first to acrolein, then to the acid with a selectivity up to 91%. Oxidation of ethylene by oxygen at 383 K in acetic acid in... 

The best example of supported aqueous phase catalysis, in which a homogeneous catalyst is embedded in an aqueous layer over silica, is the use of tetrasulfonated BINAP ligand to reduce 2-(6 -methoxy-2 -naphthyl)acrylic acid (31 Fig. 6.4). The ee is dependent on the supported organic phase, and in this case, ethylene glycol on a porous glass gave up to 95% ee for the hydrogenation product (naproxen). 

The Diels-Alder reaction has been shown to be subject to catalysis by a wide range of solid catalysts (see Chapter 4 for some examples). Acidic mesoporous aluminosilicates can be used to catalyse selective Diels-Alder reactions such as that between cyclopentadiene with methyl acrylate. The zinc-exchanged version of the material is particularly effective and compares well to other more established solid acids such as the ion-exchanged clay Zn2+-K10 as well as homogeneous catalysts such as boron trifluoride (Table 2.7).50... 

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