Alcohol global production

Table 5.3.3 Industrially important alcohols and global production. 

Worldwide bioethanol (ethyl alcohol, CH2CH2OH) production was 24,570 million gallons (equivalent to 93,008 million liters) in 2014. As presented in Table 5.3, the United States leads global production with 58% of total share, followed by Brazil and Europe (25% and 6%, respectively) (Association, 2015). 

Under the agreement, companies will reduce emissions of these compounds from their facilities and consumer products by 95 per cent by 2010, and work towards eliminating the sources of PFOA by no later than 2015. Furthermore, PFOS and PFOA as well as other perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) are stable degradation products and/or metabolites of neutral PFCs such as fluorotelomer alcohols (PFTOHs), perfluorinated sulphonamides (PFASAs) and perfluorinated sulphonamide ethanols (PFASEs) [22]. Therefore, the largest global manufacturer and supplier of fluorotelomers such as Capstone, DuPont have adapted its entire product line to utilise short-chain chemistry because short-chain molecules cannot break down to PFOA in the environment. 

Linear alkylbenzenesulfonates (LAS), alcohol ethoxylates (AEO), and nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEO) are synthetic surfactants used in the formulation of detergents and other cleaning products and are widely applied in the dye and leather industry and other industrial processes. These compounds, considered as estrogenic, have aroused considerable interest due to the large quantities produced globally. Their low volatility and anionic form make LC-based methods the preferred approach [7]. Due to the presence of different positional isomers, to the biodegradation intermediates, and to the lack of reference standards, LC-MS, and in particular with ESI, is the only technique which enables their identification and quantification in environmental waters. 

The total synthesis of the antimicrobial drimane-type sesquiterpene (-)-pereniporin A was achieved by the research team of K. Mori. The advanced intermediate bicyclic primary alcohol was first oxidized to the corresponding aldehyde using the Moffatt oxidation. Interestingly, the sensitive a-hydroxy aldehyde moiety in the product remained unchanged. The final step was a global deprotection followed by a spontaneous lactol formation. 

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