Alcohols synthesis from carbon oxides and

Alcohol Synthesis from Carbon Oxides and Hydrogen on Palladium and Rhodium Catalysts... 

A. Kiennemann, J. P. Hindermann, and R. Breault, ACS Symp. Ser, 1987, 328, 237-249. Alcohol Synthesis from Carbon Oxides and Hydrogen on Palladium and Rhodium Catalysts—Study of Active Species. 

Just as conditions can be adjusted so that nickel produces methane as the sole hydrocarbon, so, in the case of zinc oxide, methanol may be produced as the only alcohol. Similarly, just as methane is the sole hydrocarbon that can be formed by direct synthesis from carbon dioxide and hydrogen, so methanol is the only alcohol of which this is true. 

Villa P, Forzatti P, Buzzi-Ferraris G, Garone G, Pasquon I (1985) Synthesis of alcohols from carbon oxides and hydrogen. 1. Kinetics of the low-pressure methanol synthesis. Ind Eng Chem Process Des Dev 24 (1) 12-19... 

Lietti, L., Botta, D., Forzatti, R, Mantica, E., Tronconi, E., and Pasquon, I. Synthesis of alcohols from carbon oxides and hydrogen. 8. A temperature-programmed reaction study of -butanol on a Zn-Cr-O catalyst. J. Catal 1988, 111, 360-373. 

It was not in Mittasch s character to be satisfied with this conspicuous achievement. Parallel to extensive studies on the influence of pressure, temperature, gas composition, catalyst poisons and other factors on the synthesis reaction, he worked toward new types of multi-component catalysts for a great number of other catalytic gas reactions. With his associates Ch. Beck, C. Muller, and Ch. Schneider, he thus discovered efficient catalysts for the water gas reaction, for hydrogenations in the gas phase (among which the synthesis of alcohols and hydrocarbons from carbon monoxide and hydrogen is particularly noteworthy), for the production of nitric acid via the oxidation of ammonia, and for many more industrial processes which are the backbone of large segments of our present chemical industry. 

In the proposed vapor phase processes for organic acid synthesis, carbon monoxide is passed with the vaporized aliphatic alcohol over catalysts similar in nature to those employed in the pressure synthesis of higher alcohols from hydrogen-carbon monoxide mixtures. Pressures on the order of 200 atmospheres are employed. Temperatures of about 200° to 300° C. are preferred but it is necessary to use somewhat higher ones in order to obtain sufficient reaction. Mixtures of the oxides of zinc and chromium or copper, promoted with alkali or alkaline earth oxides, are suitable catalysts for the formation of carbon-carbon linkages.97 Catalysts composed of an alkali, chromium, and molybdenum have been claimed for the synthesis of mixtures of higher alcohols, aldehydes, acids, esters, etc., from carbon monoxide and vaporized aliphatic alcohols as methanol, ethanol, etc., at temperatures of about 420° C. and a pressure of 200 atmospheres.98... 

By a similar mechanism to that proposed for the formation of ethyl ether by dehydration of ethanol, it is possible that the reaction occurs stepwise with the intermediate dehydration of one ethanol molecule to form ethylene which then reacts with another ethanol molecule to form butanol. It is thus possible that higher alcohols may be built up by the reaction of olefins with the lower alcohols. Mixed oxide type of catalysts are used in the process of a nature similar to those which have been found effective in alcohol synthesis from hydrogen and carbon monoxide. It should lie noted here that catalysts which promote the union of carbon atoms must be used, and since potassium oxide promoted catalysts composed of mixtures of zinc, copper, or chromium oxides have been found to be effective in the syuthesis of higher alcohols, such catalysts should be useful in promoting the addition of olefins to alcohols or other oxygenated organic molecules.77... 

Walter Reppe also used his new base to expand the chemistry of acetylene. His first major breakthrough, in the summer of 1939, was the addition of carbon monoxide to acetylene in the presence of alcohols (or water) and a nickel catalyst to form acrylates. Carbon monoxide had attracted attention for many years as a readily available, cheap and reactive carbon compound. I.G. Farben employed it in the Pier methanol synthesis, Ruhrchemie used it in the Fischer-Tropsch synthetic petrol process, and Du Pont had carried out research on the addition of carbon monoxide to olefins at very high pressure and temperatures. Additional impetus for the use of carbon monoxide in acetylene chemistry was provided by the introduction of covered carbide furnaces at I.G. Farben s Knapsack plant in 1938, which permitted the collection of by-product carbon monoxide. The polymers of acrylic esters were already used for treating leather and for paint, but acrylic acid was made from ethylene oxide, and consequently was rather expensive. Reppe s process reached the pilot plant stage by 1945, and was subsequently used on a large scale by BASF and its American partners. 

Methanol [67-56-1] (methyl alcohol), CH OH, is a colorless Hquid at ambient temperatures with a mild, characteristic alcohol odor. Originally called wood alcohol siace it was obtained from the destmctive distillation of wood, today commercial methanol is sometimes referred to as synthetic methanol because it is produced from synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon oxides, generated by a variety of sources. 

Notable examples of general synthetic procedures in Volume 47 include the synthesis of aromatic aldehydes (from dichloro-methyl methyl ether), aliphatic aldehydes (from alkyl halides and trimethylamine oxide and by oxidation of alcohols using dimethyl sulfoxide, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, and pyridinum trifluoro-acetate the latter method is particularly useful since the conditions are so mild), carbethoxycycloalkanones (from sodium hydride, diethyl carbonate, and the cycloalkanone), m-dialkylbenzenes (from the />-isomer by isomerization with hydrogen fluoride and boron trifluoride), and the deamination of amines (by conversion to the nitrosoamide and thermolysis to the ester). Other general methods are represented by the synthesis of 1 J-difluoroolefins (from sodium chlorodifluoroacetate, triphenyl phosphine, and an aldehyde or ketone), the nitration of aromatic rings (with ni-tronium tetrafluoroborate), the reductive methylation of aromatic nitro compounds (with formaldehyde and hydrogen), the synthesis of dialkyl ketones (from carboxylic acids and iron powder), and the preparation of 1-substituted cyclopropanols (from the condensation of a 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol derivative and ethyl-... 

Co-adsorption experiments show a complex role of the nature and concentration of chemisorbed ammonia species. Ammonia is not only one of the reactants for the synthesis of acrylonitrile, but also reaction with Br()>nsted sites inhibits their reactivity. In particular, IR experiments show that two pathways of reaction are possible from chemisorbed propylene (i) to acetone via isopropoxylate intermediate or (ii) to acrolein via allyl alcoholate intermediate. The first reaction occurs preferentially at lower temperatures and in the presence of hydroxyl groups. When their reactivity is blocked by the faster reaction with ammonia, the second pathway of reaction becomes preferential. The first pathway of reaction is responsible for a degradative pathway, because acetone further transform to an acetate species with carbon chain breakage. Ammonia as NH4 reacts faster with acrylate species (formed by transformation of the acrolein intermediate) to give an acrylamide intermediate. At higher temperatures the amide may be transformed to acrylonitrile, but when Brreform ammonia and free, weakly bonded, acrylic acid. The latter easily decarboxylate forming carbon oxides. 

The addition of Grignard reagents to aldehydes, ketones, and esters is the basis for the synthesis of a wide variety of alcohols, and several examples are given in Scheme 7.3. Primary alcohols can be made from formaldehyde (Entry 1) or, with addition of two carbons, from ethylene oxide (Entry 2). Secondary alcohols are obtained from aldehydes (Entries 3 to 6) or formate esters (Entry 7). Tertiary alcohols can be made from esters (Entries 8 and 9) or ketones (Entry 10). Lactones give diols (Entry 11). Aldehydes can be prepared from trialkyl orthoformate esters (Entries 12 and 13). Ketones can be made from nitriles (Entries 14 and 15), pyridine-2-thiol esters (Entry 16), N-methoxy-A-methyl carboxamides (Entries 17 and 18), or anhydrides (Entry 19). Carboxylic acids are available by reaction with C02 (Entries 20 to 22). Amines can be prepared from imines (Entry 23). Two-step procedures that involve formation and dehydration of alcohols provide routes to certain alkenes (Entries 24 and 25). 

The table, which collects representative examples, shows that monosubstituted epoxides afford homoaUyhc alcohols resulting from the attack to the less substituted carbon atom (runs 1, 5 and 7). HomoaUyhc alcohols are useful intermediates in several important total synthesis." Disubstituted epoxides fail to react (run 4). Styrene oxide leads to a mixture of homoaUyhc alcohols (run 2) and ally lie epoxides give mixture of 1,2- and 1,4-opening product, with predominance of the 1,4 product (run 3, 6 and 8). 

An extremely mild method for the synthesis of nitrate esters from easily oxidized or acid-sensitive alcohols involves the decomposition of a nitratocarbonate (29). The nitratocar-bonate is prepared in situ from metathesis between a chloroformate (reaction between phosgene and an alcohol) and silver nitrate in acetonitrile in the presence of pyridine at room temperature. Under these conditions the nitratocarbonate readily decomposes to yield the corresponding nitrate ester and carbon dioxide. Few examples of these reactions are available in the literature and they are limited to a laboratory scale. 

Numerous methods for the synthesis of salicyl alcohol exist. These involve the reduction of salicylaldehyde or of salicylic acid and its derivatives. The alcohol can be prepared in almost theoretical yield by the reduction of salicylaldehyde with sodium amalgam, sodium borohydride, or lithium aluminum hydride by catalytic hydrogenation over platinum black or Raney nickel or by hydrogenation over platinum and ferrous chloride in alcohol. The electrolytic reduction of salicylaldehyde in sodium bicarbonate solution at a mercury cathode with carbon dioxide passed into the mixture also yields saligenin. It is formed by the electrolytic reduction at lead electrodes of salicylic acids in aqueous alcoholic solution or sodium salicylate in the presence of boric acid and sodium sulfate. Salicylamide in aqueous alcohol solution acidified with acetic acid is reduced to salicyl alcohol by sodium amalgam in 63% yield. Salicyl alcohol forms along with -hydroxybenzyl alcohol by the action of formaldehyde on phenol in the presence of sodium hydroxide or calcium oxide. High yields of salicyl alcohol from phenol and formaldehyde in the presence of a molar equivalent of ether additives have been reported (60). Phenyl metaborate prepared from phenol and boric acid yields salicyl alcohol after treatment with formaldehyde and hydrolysis (61). 

Other important raw material uses of ethyl alcohol are conversion to esters and ethers, vinegar, ethyl chloride, butadiene, styrene, and chloral (for DDT). Nearly all the new developments in chemicals from ethyl alcohol, particularly the four-, six-, and eight-carbon derivatives are based on alcohol derived from petroleum. The butyl alcohol and butyl acetate so made supplement the production by fermentation and from oxidation of hydrocarbons and synthesis gas operations. The consumption of ethyl alcohol for all industrial uses (denatured alcohol) exceeded 1.2 billion pounds (100% basis) in 1950. More than 700,000,000 pounds of this were made from petroleum. 

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