Ammonolysis of

Inorganic amides contain the ion NH2". They are formed by the action of ammonia on metals or by the ammonolysis of nitrides. The heavy metal amides are prepared by meta-thetical reactions in liquid ammonia, e.g. 

Tertiary amines may be obtained from alkaline alkylation of secondary amines (46), but mixtures are obtained (see Section III.l.B) hence heterocyclization and ammonolysis of 2-halothiazoles are to be preferred. 

The amide can be prepared classically from the acid chloride or by ammonolysis of the ester, prepared directly by cyclization (15, 75, 78-80). 

In general, the reactions of the perfluoro acids are similar to those of the hydrocarbon acids. Salts are formed with the ease expected of strong acids. The metal salts are all water soluble and much more soluble in organic solvents than the salts of the corresponding hydrocarbon acids. Esterification takes place readily with primary and secondary alcohols. Acid anhydrides can be prepared by distillation of the acids from phosphoms pentoxide. The amides are readily prepared by the ammonolysis of the acid haUdes, anhydrides, or esters and can be dehydrated to the corresponding nitriles (31). 

Lewis acids, such as the haUde salts of the alkaline-earth metals, Cu(I), Cu(II), 2inc, Fe(III), aluminum, etc, are effective catalysts for this reaction (63). The ammonolysis of polyamides obtained from post-consumer waste has been used to cleave the polymer chain as the first step in a recycle process in which mixtures of nylon-6,6 and nylon-6 can be reconverted to diamine (64). The advantage of this approach Hes in the fact that both the adipamide [628-94-4] and 6-aminohexanoamide can be converted to hexarnethylenediarnine via their respective nitriles in a conventional two-step process in the presence of the diamine formed in the original ammonolysis reaction, thus avoiding a difficult and cosdy separation process. In addition, the mixture of nylon-6,6 and nylon-6 appears to react faster than does either polyamide alone. 

Aromatic amines can be produced by reduction of the corresponding nitro compound, the ammonolysis of an aromatic haUde or phenol, and by direct amination of the aromatic ring. At present, the catalytic reduction of nitrobenzene is the predominant process for manufacture of aniline. To a smaller extent aniline is also produced by ammonolysis of phenol. 

The ammonolysis of phenol (61—65) is a commercial process in Japan. Aristech Chemical Corporation (formerly USS Chemical Division of USX Corporation) currently operates a plant at Ha verb ill, Ohio to convert phenol to aniline. The plant s design is based on Halcon s process (66). In this process, phenol is vapori2ed, mixed with fresh and recycled ammonia, and fed to a reactor that contains a proprietary Lewis acid catalyst. The gas leaving the reactor is fed to a distillation column to recover ammonia overhead for recycle. Aniline, water, phenol, and a small quantity of by-product dipbenylamines are recovered from the bottom of the column and sent to the drying column, where water is removed. 

Most derivatives of aniline are not obtained from aniline itself, but ate prepared by hydrogenation of their nitroaromatic precursors. The exceptions, for example, /V-a1ky1ani1ines, /V-ary1ani1ines, sulfonated anilines, or the A/-acyl derivatives, can be prepared from aniline and have been discussed. Nitroanilines are usually prepared by ammonolysis of the corresponding chloronitroben2ene. Special isolation methods may be requited for some derivatives if the boiling points are close and separation by distillation is not feasible. Table 6 Hsts some of the derivatives of aniline that are produced commercially. 

Amination. Amyl alcohols can react with ammonia or alkylamines to form primary, secondary, or tertiary-substituted amines. Eor example, 3-methyl-butylamine [107-85-7] is produced by reductive ammonolysis of 3-methyl-1-butanol over a Ni catalyst at 150°C (59). Some diisoamyl- and triisoamyl amines are also formed in this reaction. Good selectivities (88%) of neopentyl amine [5813-64-9] are similarly produced by reductive ammonolysis of neopentyl alcohol (60). 

Ammonium acetate and sodium methoxide are effective catalysts for the ammonolysis of soybean oil (49). Polyfunctional amines and amino alcohols such as ethylenediamine, ethanolamine, and diethanolamine react to give useful intermediates. Ethylenediamine can form either a monoamide or a diamide depending on the mole ratio of reactants. With an equimolar ratio of reactants and a temperature of >250° C, a cyclization reaction occurs to give imidazolines with ethylenediamine (48) ... 

Dichloroethane reacts with toluene in the presence of Friedel-Crafts catalysts such as AIBr., AlCl, GaCl, and ZrCl (26). Ammonolysis of... 

Aminoanthraquinone and Related Compounds. l-Amiuoanthraquiuone [82-45-1] (17) is the most important iatermediate for manufacturiag acid, reactive, disperse, and vat dyes. It has been manufactured from anthraquiaone-l-sulfonic acid [82-49-5] (16) by ammonolysis of the sulfo group with aqueous ammonia ia the presence of an oxidising agent such as nitroben2ene-3-sulfonic acid. 

Other methods of generating a-aminoketones in situ are common, if somewhat less general than the methods already described. 2-Nitrovinylpyrrolidine, which is readily available, yields 2,3-bis(3-aminopropyl)pyrazine on reduction and this almost certainly involves ring opening of the intermediate enamine to an a-aminoketone which then dimerizes under the reaction conditions (Scheme 59) (78TL2217). Nitroethylene derivatives have also served as a-aminoketone precursors via ammonolysis of the derived epoxides at elevated temperatures (Scheme 60) (76S53). Condensation of 1,1-disubstituted hydrazine derivatives with a-nitro-/3-ethoxyethylene derivatives has been used in the synthesis of l,4-dialkylamino-l,4-dihydropyrazines (Scheme 61) (77S136). 

This group was introduced and removed using the same conditions as for the MTMB group. The half-lives for ammonolysis of acetate, MTMB, and MTMT are 5 min, 15 min, and 6 h, respectively. ... 

Initial C-perfluoroalkylation of p diketonesoccurs dunng thenUV irradiation in the presence of perfluoroalkyl iodides in liquid ammonia Pluorinated enami-noketones are obtained by subsequent ammonolysis of a difluoromethylene group and removal of the acetyl group [131] C-alkylation of dimethyl malonate takes... 

Sulfamide, (H2N)2S02, can be made by ammonolysis of SO3 or O2SCI2. It is a colourless crystalline material, mp 93°, which begins to decompose above this temperature. It is soluble in water to give a neutral non-electrolytic solution but in boiling water it decomposes to ammonia and sulfuric acid. The structure (Fig. 15.50c)... 

Ammonolysis of 2-chlorobenzothiazole in liquid ammonia was studied by Lemons et al. and found to be approximately first-order with respect to this substrate at the fairly high concentrations used. The actual nucleophilic reagent was, as expected, the neutral species NH3, and reaction via the amide ion NH2 arising from the autoprotolysis equilibrium [Eq. (5)] was excluded on the grounds that addition of ammonium chloride did not depress the reaction rate. In accordance with this interpretation and in connection with the existence of aromatic substitutions other than normal it is of interest that 2-chlorobenzothiazole was found to react difiFerently with sodamide, although the products were unidentified in this case. 

An alternative way to produce aniline is through ammonolysis of either chlorobenzene or phenol. The reaction of chlorobenzene with aqueous ammonia occurs over a copper salt catalyst at approximately 210°C and 65 atmospheres. The yield of aniline from this route is also about 96% ... 

Ammonolysis of phenol occurs in the vapor phase. In the Scientific Design Co. process (Figure 10-10), a mixed feed of ammonia and phenol is heated and passed over a heterogeneous catalyst in a fixed-bed sys-... 

Amino acids can be synthesized in racemic form by several methods, including ammonolysis of an a-bromo acid, alkylation of diethyl acetamido-malonate, and reductive amination of an cv-keto acid. Alternatively, an enantio-selective synthesis of amino acids can be carried out using a chiral hydrogenation catalyst. 

Ammonolysis of PET involves the reaction of PET and ammonia with heating and usually in die presence of ethylene glycol to form terephdialdiamide. The reaction is catalyzed by zinc acetate. 

Ammonolysis of PET involves the reaction of PET with ammonia at temperatures of 70-180°C, usually under pressure in EG. The ammonolysis of PET postconsumer bottles has been canied out at temperatures in the range of 120-180°C and a pressure of ca. 2 MPa for 1-7 h. The TPA diamide formed may be converted to terephthalonitrile. Terephthalonitrile may be hydrogenated to form p-xylylenediamine and l,4-bis(aminomethyl)cyclohexane.12 A low-pressure PET ammonolysis process in EG has been developed. The process is catalyzed by 0.5 wt% zinc acetate at a temperature of 70°C and a PET-NH3 ratio of 1 6 (w/w). The yield of TPA diamide was 87%. 

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