Benzene principal

Benzene was first isolated by Faraday in 1825 from the liquid condensed by compressing oil gas. It is the lightest fraction obtained from the distillation of the coal-tar hydrocarbons, but most benzene is now manufactured from suitable petroleum fractions by dehydrogenation (54%) and dealkylation processes. Its principal industrial use is as a starting point for other chemicals, particularly ethylbenzene, cumene, cyclohexane, styrene (45%), phenol (20%), and Nylon (17%) precursors. U.S. production 1979 2-6 B gals. 

Table 7.9 Electronic Absorption Bands for Representative Chromophores Table 7.10 Ultraviolet Cutoffs of Spectrograde Solvents Table 7.11 Absorption Wavelength of Dienes Table 7.12 Absorption Wavelength of Enones and Dienones Table 7.13 Solvent Correction for Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy Table 7.14 Primary Bands of Substituted Benzene and Heteroaromatics Table 7.15 Wavelength Calculation of the Principal Band of Substituted Benzene Derivatives...

TABLE 7.15 Wavelength Calculation of the Principal Band of Substituted Benzene Derivatives In ethanol. 

Figure 5.1 Principal inertial axes of (a) hydrogen cyanide, (b) methyl iodide, (c) benzene, (d) methane, (e) sulphur hexafluoride, (f) formaldehyde, (g) s-lraws-acrolein and (h) pyrazine...

Toluene disproportionation (TDP) is a catalytic process in which 2 moles of toluene are converted to 1 mole of xylene and 1 mole of benzene this process is discussed in greater detail herein. Although the mixed xylenes from TDP are generally more cosdy to produce than those from catalytic reformate or pyrolysis gasoline, thek principal advantage is that they are very pure and contain essentially no EB. 

Cyclization with various nickel complex catalysts gives up to 97% selectivity to a mixture of cyclooctatetraene derivatives, with only 3% of benzene derivatives. The principal isomer is the symmetrical l,3,5,7-cyclooctatetraene-l,3,5,7-tetramethanol (29). 

Manufacture. One commercial process features a three-stage saturation—rearomatization technique using benzene and fluorine gas as raw materials (73). Principal problems with this method are the complex nature of the process, its dependence on fluorine gas which is cosdy to produce, and the poor overall utilization of fluorine, because nearly one-half of the input fluorine is removed during the process. 

Large-scale recovery of light oil was commercialized in England, Germany, and the United States toward the end of the nineteenth century (151). Industrial coal-tar production dates from the earliest operation of coal-gas faciUties. The principal bulk commodities derived from coal tar are wood-preserving oils, road tars, industrial pitches, and coke. Naphthalene is obtained from tar oils by crystallization, tar acids are derived by extraction of tar oils with caustic, and tar bases by extraction with sulfuric acid. Coal tars generally contain less than 1% benzene and toluene, and may contain up to 1% xylene. The total U.S. production of BTX from coke-oven operations is insignificant compared to petroleum product consumptions. 

Cyclic Hydrocarbons. The cyclic hydrocarbon intermediates are derived principally from petroleum and natural gas, though small amounts are derived from coal. Most cycHc intermediates are used in the manufacture of more advanced synthetic organic chemicals and finished products such as dyes, medicinal chemicals, elastomers, pesticides, and plastics and resins. Table 6 details the production and sales of cycHc intermediates in 1991. Benzene (qv) is the largest volume aromatic compound used in the chemical industry. It is extracted from catalytic reformates in refineries, and is produced by the dealkylation of toluene (qv) (see also BTX Processing). 

Solvent Treatment. Solvent processes can be divided into two main categories, solvent extraction and solvent dewaxing. The solvent used in the extraction processes include propane and cresyHc acid, 2,2 -dichlorodiethyl ether, phenol (qv), furfural, sulfur dioxide, benzene, and nitrobenzene. In the dewaxing process (28), the principal solvents are benzene, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, propane, petroleum naphtha, ethylene dichloride, methylene chloride, sulfur dioxide, and iV-methylpyrroHdinone. 

A typical phenol plant based on the cumene hydroperoxide process can be divided into two principal areas. In the reaction area, cumene, formed by alkylation of benzene and propylene, is oxidized to form cumene hydroperoxide (CHP). The cumene hydroperoxide is concentrated and cleaved to produce phenol and acetone. By-products of the oxidation reaction are acetophenone and dimethyl benzyl alcohol (DMBA). DMBA is dehydrated in the cleavage reaction to produce alpha-methylstyrene (AMS). 

The main chain of these polymers contains, as the principal component, five- or six-membered heteroaromatic rings, ie, imides, which are usually present as condensed aromatic systems, such as with benzene (phthalimides, 3) and naphthalene (naphthalimides, 4) rings. 

Aromatic Hydrocarbons. Sulfolane is used principally as a solvent for extraction of benzene, toluene, and xylene from mixtures containing aHphatic hydrocarbons (33—37). The sulfolane process was introduced in 1959 by SheU Development Company, and that process is Hcensed by Universal OH Products. A sulfolane extraction process is also Hcensed by the Atlantic Richfield Company. In 1994, worldwide consumption was estimated at ca 6974 t/yr of sulfolane for 137 sulfolane extraction units (see Bix processes Extraction, liquid-liquid Xylenes and ethylbenzene). 

Tables 14 and 15 show historical U.S. prices for nitration- and commercial-grade toluene, respectively, from 1976 to 1995. The minimum price for the toluene used in chemicals is set by its value in unleaded gasoline, which is the principal use. The ceiling price is set by the relative values of benzene and toluene. When the value of benzene is such that the differential between benzene and toluene exceeds the cost of converting toluene to ben2ene, then the price of toluene is set by its value for the conversion to benzene. A differential of 91.00/t (ca 0.30/gal) is generally needed to make conversion of toluene to benzene economically attractive.

Although all four tocopherols have been synthesized as their all-rac forms, the commercially significant form of tocopherol is i7//-n7i a-tocopheryl acetate. The commercial processes ia use are based on the work reported by several groups ia 1938 (15—17). These processes utilize a Friedel-Crafts-type condensation of 2,3,5-trimethylhydroquinone with either phytol (16), a phytyl haUde (7,16,17), or phytadiene (7). The principal synthesis (Fig. 3) ia current commercial use iavolves condensation of 2,3,5-trimethylhydroquiQone (13) with synthetic isophytol (14) ia an iaert solvent, such as benzene or hexane, with an acid catalyst, such as ziac chloride, boron trifluoride, or orthoboric acid/oxaUc acid (7,8,18) to give the all-rac-acetate ester (15b) by reaction with acetic anhydride. Purification of tocopheryl acetate is readily accompHshed by high vacuum molecular distillation and rectification (<1 mm Hg) to achieve the required USP standard. 

Until the 1940s light oil obtained from the destmctive distillation of coal was the principal source of benzene. Except for part of the World War 11 period, the quantity of benzene produced by the coal carbonization industry was sufficient to supply the demand even when a large portion of benzene was used for gasoline blending. 

In recent years alkylations have been accompHshed with acidic zeoHte catalysts, most nobably ZSM-5. A ZSM-5 ethylbenzene process was commercialized joiatiy by Mobil Co. and Badger America ia 1976 (24). The vapor-phase reaction occurs at temperatures above 370°C over a fixed bed of catalyst at 1.4—2.8 MPa (200—400 psi) with high ethylene space velocities. A typical molar ethylene to benzene ratio is about 1—1.2. The conversion to ethylbenzene is quantitative. The principal advantages of zeoHte-based routes are easy recovery of products, elimination of corrosive or environmentally unacceptable by-products, high product yields and selectivities, and high process heat recovery (25,26). 

Some of the principal Japanese producers of benzene are Mitsubishi Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Nippon Steel Chemical Co., Ltd., Sanyo Petrochemical Ltd., and Idemitsu Kosan Ltd. Until 1967, the main source of Japanese benzene was coal-based. Today, approximately 40—45% of benzene production in Japan is based on pyrolysis gasoline (74), about 40% catalytic reformate, and the remainder coke oven light oil and thermal hydrodealkylation. 

The principal producers of benzene in the Netherlands are Dow Chemical Nederland BV, Exxon Chemical Holland, and DSM NV Plastics Division. These three companies have a combined armual capacity of about 955,000 t. 

Biphenyl has been produced commercially in the United States since 1926, mainly by The Dow Chemical Co., Monsanto Co., and Sun Oil Co. Currently, Dow, Monsanto, and Koch Chemical Co. are the principal biphenyl producers, with lesser amounts coming from Sybron Corp. and Chemol, Inc. With the exception of Monsanto, the above suppHers recover biphenyl from high boiler fractions that accompany the hydrodealkylation of toluene [108-88-3] to benzene (6). Hydrodealkylation of alkylbenzenes, usually toluene, C Hg, is an important source of benzene, C H, in the United States. Numerous hydrodealkylation (HDA) processes have been developed. Most have the common feature that toluene or other alkylbenzene plus hydrogen is passed under pressure through a tubular reactor at high temperature (34). Methane and benzene are the principal products formed. Dealkylation conditions are sufficiently severe to cause some dehydrocondensation of benzene and toluene molecules. 

The principal chemical uses of BTX are illustrated in Figure 1 and Hsted in Table 1 (2). A very wide range of consumer products from solvents to fibers, films, and plastics are based on BTX. The consumption of BTX is approximately in the proportions of 67 5 28, respectively. However, no BTX process gives BTX in these proportions. The economic value of benzene and xylenes (especially -xylene) is normally higher than that of toluene. Because of this, processes that convert toluene to benzene by hydrodealkylation (3) and disproportionate toluene to benzene and xylenes (4) have been commercialized. In addition, reforming processes that emphasize production of either benzene or -xylene [106 2-3] have been described (5). Since these are not classified as BTX processes they are not discussed in detail here. 

The performance of many metal-ion catalysts can be enhanced by doping with cesium compounds. This is a result both of the low ionization potential of cesium and its abiUty to stabilize high oxidation states of transition-metal oxo anions (50). Catalyst doping is one of the principal commercial uses of cesium. Cesium is a more powerflil oxidant than potassium, which it can replace. The amount of replacement is often a matter of economic benefit. Cesium-doped catalysts are used for the production of styrene monomer from ethyl benzene at metal oxide contacts or from toluene and methanol as Cs-exchanged zeofltes ethylene oxide ammonoxidation, acrolein (methacrolein) acryflc acid (methacrylic acid) methyl methacrylate monomer methanol phthahc anhydride anthraquinone various olefins chlorinations in low pressure ammonia synthesis and in the conversion of SO2 to SO in sulfuric acid production. 

AEyl chloride reacts with sodamide in Hquid ammonia to produce benzene when sodamide is in excess, hexadiene dimer is the principal product, with some trimer and tetramer (C24, six double bonds). AEylation at carbon atoms alpha to polar groups is used in the preparation of a-aEyl-substituted ketones and nittiles. Preparation of P-diketone derivatives, methionic acid derivatives, and malonic ester, cyanoacetic ester, and P-keto-ester derivatives, etc, involving substitution on an alpha carbon between two polar carbonyl groups, is particularly facEe. 

The reaction of bis(benzene)vanadium [12129-72-5] with TCNE affords an insoluble amorphous black soHd that exhibits field-dependent magnetization and hysteresis at room temperature, an organic-based magnet (12). The anion radical is quite stable in the soHd state. It is paramagnetic, and its intense electron paramagnetic resonance (epr) spectmm has nine principal lines with the intensity ratios expected for four equivalent N nuclei (13) and may be used as an internal reference in epr work (see Magnetic spin resonance). 

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