Cumene, autoxidation

The best preparative results from autoxidation are encountered when only one relatively reactive hydrogen is available for abstraction. The oxidation of isopropylbenzene (cumene) is carried out on an industrial scale, with the ultimate products being acetone and phenol ... 

The common initiators of this class are f-alkyl derivatives, for example, t-butyl hydroperoxide (59), Aamyl hydroperoxide (60), cumene hydroperoxide (61), and a range of peroxyketals (62). Hydroperoxides formed by hydrocarbon autoxidation have also been used as initiators of polymerization. 

Autoxidation may in some cases be of preparative use thus reference has already been made to the large-scale production of phenol+ acetone by the acid-catalysed rearrangement of the hydroperoxide from 2-phenylpropane (cumene, p. 128). Another example involves the hydroperoxide (94) obtained by the air oxidation at 70° of tetrahydro-naphthalene (tetralin) the action of base then yields the ketone (a-tetralone, 95), and reductive fission of the 0—0 linkage the alcohol (a-tetralol, 96) ... 

Recent detailed studies on autoxidation reactions have been published for tetralin 44-46) cumene and ethylbenzene 46,47) methyl oleate 48,49) and benzaldehyde 50h... 

In the preceding paragraph peroxides were described as key intermediates in autoxidation chemiluminescence. In most cases hydroperoxides were involved. The majority are well-defined compounds (e.g. cumene hydroperoxide), but autoxidation reactions are rather complex and peroxides are only one, though very important type of compound involved. 

Emulsion oxidation of alkylaromatic compounds appeared to be more efficient for the production of hydroperoxides. The first paper devoted to emulsion oxidation of cumene appeared in 1950 [1], The kinetics of emulsion oxidation of cumene was intensely studied by Kucher et al. [2-16], Autoxidation of cumene in the bulk and emulsion occurs with an induction period and autoacceleration. The simple addition of water inhibits the reaction [6], However, the addition of an aqueous solution of Na2C03 or NaOH in combination with vigorous agitation of this system accelerates the oxidation process [1-17]. The addition of an aqueous phase accelerates the oxidation and withdrawal of water retards it [6]. The addition of surfactants such as salts of fatty acids accelerates the oxidation of cumene in emulsion [3], The higher the surfactant concentration the faster the cumene autoxidation in emulsion [17]. The rates of cumene emulsion oxidation after an induction period are given below (T = 353 K, [RH] [H20] = 2 3 (v/v), p02 = 98 kPa [17]). 

Aryl phosphites inhibit the initiated oxidation of hydrocarbons and polymers by breaking chains on the reaction with peroxyl radicals (see Table 17.3). The low values of the inhibition coefficient / for aryl phosphites are explained by their capacity for chain autoxidation [14]. Quantitative investigations of the inhibited oxidation of tetralin and cumene at 338 K showed that with increasing concentration of phosphite /rises tending to 1 [27]. 

Autoxidation. Self-catalyzed oxidation in the presence of air. Autoxidation can be initiated by heat, light, or a catalyst. The commercial production of phenol and acetone from cumene is autoxidation. Other examples include the degradation of polymers exposed to sunlight for long periods of time gum formation in lubricating oils and gasoline and the spoilage of fats. 

Table III. Collected Rate Constants (in Mole"1 sec."1) for Autoxidation of Cumene and Tetralin...

Table IV. Effect of Tetralin Hydroperoxide on Autoxidation of Cumene at 30°C.

Figure 1. Effect of Tetralin hydroperoxide on autoxidation of cumene at 30°C.

Table V. Effect of Cumene Hydroperoxide on Autoxidation of Tetralin at 30°C.

This difficulty has now been overcome. Howard, Schwalm, and Ingold (24) show that the rate constant for reaction of any alkylperoxy radical with any hydrocarbon can be determined (by the sector method) by carrying out the autoxidation of the hydrocarbon in the presence of >0.1 M hydroperoxide corresponding to the chosen radical. All the absolute propagation and termination constants for the co-oxidation of cumene and Tetralin were thus determined. Our Tetralin-cumene work suggests that their results agree well with the best we have been able to get... 

Of the many studies of the autoxidation of butenes, few (5,11) have emphasized methyl vinyl ketone and methyl vinyl carbinol as major products. In the cumene hydroperoxide-initiated oxidation of 1-butene at 105°C. with 60 atm. of air, Chernyak (5) reported an average hourly rate of production of these two products approximately equal to the combined rates of formation of hydroperoxide and epoxide. The reported rates for hydroperoxide plus vinyl ketone and alcohol indicate that 60% of the products occur by abstraction, in agreement with Van Sickle (17). 

The present paper reports the results of a kinetic study of the inhibition of the azobisisobutyronitrile-initiated autoxidation of cumene at 60 °C. and of Tetralin at 70 °C. by zinc diisopropyl dithiophosphate, undertaken to test the validity of the chain-breaking inhibition mechanism proposed above. In addition, the effectiveness of several metal dialkyl dithiophosphates as antioxidants in the autoxidation of squalane... 

From these results, it is clear that neither Equation A nor B represents the kinetics of the zinc diisopropyl dithiophosphate-inhibited autoxi-dation of cumene or Tetralin. This does not immediately indicate that the mechanism in Scheme 1 is wrong since it is highly idealized and takes no account of possible side reactions. A similar situation occurs in the inhibition of hydrocarbon autoxidation by phenols (AH), for which a basic mechanism similar to that in Scheme 1 is accepted. Termination occurs via Reactions 7 and 8 instead of Reactions 5 and 6. 

AIBN is, however, virtually unaffected by the presence of dithio-phosphates (Table II). Further, with specific reference to the oxidation of the disulfide in Table I, which has no effect on the rate of AIBN-initi-ated autoxidation of cumene (6), it is unlikely that the efficiency of radical production from AIBN increases since this would produce a prooxidant effect in cumene. Thus, the zinc salt inhibitor is being oxidized in competition with the main chain reaction. 

When a slow steady-state autoxidation of a suitable hydrocarbon is disturbed by adding either a small amount of inhibitor or initiatory a new stationary state is established in a short time. The change in velocity during the non-steady state can be followed with sensitive manometric apparatus. With the aid of integrated equations describing the nonsteady state the individual rate constants of the autoxidation reaction can be derived from the results. Scope and limitations of this method are discussed. Results obtained for cumene, cyclohexene, and Tetralin agree with literature data. 

Like the porphyrins, the phthalocyanines can undergo photooxidation and act as photosensitizers for the production of singlet oxygen" One of the few chemical synthetic applications was the acceleration of the autoxidation of cumene and photooxidation of pinenes". ... 

Emulsion oxidation of alkylaromatic compounds appeared to be more efficient for the production of hydroperoxides. The first paper devoted to emulsion oxidation of cumene appeared in 1950 [1]. The kinetics of emulsion oxidation of cumene was intensely studied by Kucher et al. [2-16]. Autoxidation of cumene in the bulk and emulsion occurs with an induction period and autoacceleration. The simple addition of water inhibits the reaction... 

On the one hand, this complicates the problem of understanding such fast oxidations, but on the other, it points up the possibility of a much wider range of control and selectivity than would be possible if only a single chain-carrying species were involved. It may well be that the autoxidations of cumene and acetaldehyde are the only technical processes in operation to which the classical hydroperoxide (or peracid) long-chain mechanisms truly apply. 

The propagation step, Eq. (4), is much slower than Eq. (3) as an example, its rate constant kp is 0.18 M 1 sec-1 for cumene at 303K. Values of kp can vary considerably for different substrates, as shown by the oxidation rates of substituted toluenes (8). With respect to toluene, taken as 1.0, the reactivity of 4-nitrotoluene toward ROO is 0.33 and that of / -xylene is 1.6. A homolytic process like the fission of the C-H bond should be essentially apolar, but data for substituted toluenes correctly suggest that the hydrogen radical abstraction is favored by electron-donor substituents and that in the transition state the carbon atom involved has a partial positive charge. The difference in kp between different molecules or different groups of the same molecule is the reason of the selectivity of autoxidation. 

The most important autoxidation used industrially is the synthesis of cumene hydroperoxide from cumene and air (i.e., diluted oxygen) (Figure 1.37). It is initiated by catalytic amounts of dibenzoyl peroxide as the radical initiator (cf. Figure 1.11). The cumyl radical is produced... 

In recent years much emphasis has been placed on studies of co-oxidations, since they can provide quantitative data about fundamental processes (such as the relative reactivities of peroxy radicals toward various hydrocarbons48-50), which are difficult to obtain by other methods. Co-oxidations are also quite important from a practical viewpoint since it is possible to utilize the alkylperoxy intermediates for additional oxidation processes instead of wasting this active oxygen. That the addition of a second substrate to an autoxidation reaction can produce dramatic effects is illustrated by Russell s observation51 that the presence of 3 mole % of tetralin reduced the rate of cumene oxidation by two-thirds, despite the fact that tetralin itself is oxidized 10 times faster than cumene. The retardation is due to the higher rate of termination of the secondary tetralyl-peroxy radicals compared to the tertiary cumylperoxy radicals (see above). 

An oxygen activation mechanism has also been postulated187 for the autoxidation of cumene at 35°C in the presence of the Pd(0) complex, (Ph3P)4 Pd ... 

However, a recent kinetic study188 has shown unequivocally that chain initiation proceeds via the usual metal-catalyzed decomposition of the hydroperoxide. Thus, the rate of initiation of the autoxidation of cumene was, within experimental error, equal to the rate of production of radicals in the (Ph3P)4Pd-catalyzed decomposition of tert-butyl hydroperoxide in chlorobenzene at the same temperature and catalyst concentration. Moreover, long induction periods were observed (in the absence of added tert-butyl hydroperoxide), when the cumene was purified by passing it down a column of basic alumina immediately prior to use. Autoxidation of cumene purified by conventional procedures showed only short induction periods. These results further demonstrate the necessity of using highly purified substrates in kinetic studies. 

Kropf and co-workers200-207b carried out detailed investigations of the autoxidation of alkyl aromatic hydrocarbons, such as cumene, catalyzed by metal phthalocyanines. They concluded that in the initial stages of reaction, in which the concentration of alkyl hydroperoxides is quite low, initiation occurred by an oxygen activation mechanism, e.g.,... 

A more recent investigation215 has shown, however, that initiation of cumene autoxidation by sulfonium compounds involves the production of radicals by reaction of the sulfonium compound with trace amounts of cumene hydroperoxide. The following catalytic mechanism accounted for the observed results... 

It may be concluded from the preceding discussion that at this juncture there is no bona fide evidence for the initiation of autoxidations by direct hydrogen transfer between metal-dioxygen complexes and hydrocarbon substrates. Although such a process may eventually prove feasible, in catalytic systems it will often be readily masked by the facile reaction of the metal complex with hydroperoxide. The choice of cumene as substrate by many investigators is somewhat unfortunate for several reasons. Cumene readily undergoes free radical chain autoxidation under mild conditions and its hydroperoxide readily decomposes by both homolytic and heterolytic processes. 

Hydrogen bromide enhances the rate of autoxidation of cumene.262 The effect can be explained by the following scheme, in which a bromine atom replaces an alkylperoxy radical in the usual propagation sequence272 ... 

Surprisingly, alkanes containing tertiary C—H bonds showed poor reactivity in these reactions.2943 b 29Sa d Thus, isobutane was less reactive than n-butane, and methylcyclohexane less reactive than cyclohexane (cf., lower reactivity of cumene to toluene). In the series of normal alkanes, n-butane reacted faster than n-pentane. n-Undecane was unreactive. These results are inconsistent with a normal free radical autoxidation. The authors used the analogy with arene oxidations to postulate that formation of radical cations by electron transfer from the alkane to Co(III) was a critical factor ... 

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