Benzaldehyde from toluene—continued

In the Hquid-phase process, both benzaldehyde and benzoic acid are recovered. This process was iatroduced and developed ia the late 1950s by the Dow Chemical Company, as a part of their toluene-to-phenol process, and by Snia Viscosa for their toluene-to-caprolactam process. The benzaldehyde recovered from the Hquid-phase air oxidation of toluene may be purified by either batch or continuous distillation. Liquid-phase air oxidation of toluene is covered more fully (see Benzoic acid). 

A first application using ferroceneboronic acid as mediator [45] was described for the transformation of p-hydroxy toluene to p-hydroxy benzaldehyde which is catalyzed by the enzyme p-cresolmethyl hydroxylase (PCMH) from Pseudomonas putida. This enzyme is a flavocytochrome containing two FAD and two cytochrome c prosthetic groups. To develop a continuous process using ultrafiltration membranes to retain the enzyme and the mediator, water soluble polymer-bound ferrocenes [50] such as compounds 3-7 have been applied as redox catalysts for the application in batch electrolyses (Fig. 12) or in combination with an electrochemical enzyme membrane reactor (Fig. 13) [46, 50] with excellent results. 

The indirect preparation of p (tert-butyl)benzaldehyde (TBB) from p(tert-butyl)toluene and the electrogenerated Mn(III) in the batch mode (6301 tank) and continuous process using a cascade (Fig. 13) has been examined [140], The data are summarized in Table 12. 

Phenol (508) is found to be produced continuously from benzene (507) by aerial oxidation in aqueous sulfuric acid when a Cu(I)/Cu(II) redox couple is used as a mediator (Scheme 176) [581]. The Cu(I)-mediated electroreduction of oxygen in the presence of chloride is found to be effective for toluene oxidation, leading to benzaldehyde and benzyl chloride [582]. Recently, benzene has also been oxidized... 

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