Butadiene routes

Hexamethylenediamine is now made by three different routes the original from adipic acid, the electrodimerization of acrylonitrile, and the addition of hydrogen cyanide to butadiene. Thus, the starting material can be cyclohexane, propylene, or butadiene. Currently, the cyclohexane-based route from adipic acid is the most costly and this process is being phased out. The butadiene route is patented by DuPont and requires hydrogen cyanide facilities. Recent new hexamethylenediamine plants, outside DuPont, are based on acrylonitrile from propylene, a readily available commodity. 

In terms of sustainability, the process starting from propene would be preferable, since it avoids the risks connected with the use of HCN in the butadiene route, even if produced on demand. However, the butadiene route to produce adiponitrile (ADN) is more cost-effective, owing to the need to use an electrochemical reaction for acrylonitrile dimerization. The problem of cost, however, is highly dependent on several factors, including sensitivity to natural gas prices (which influences butadiene cost), the market for acrylonitrile, and soon. The acrylonitrile route is used by Solutia, BASF and Asahi Kasei. New plants to make caprolactam, using ADN as intermediate, are under construction in Asia. 

Neoprene GW A sulphur modified polymer in which polymerisation has been controlled to combine the optimum properties of both sulphur and mercaptan modification. Du Pont remained the major producer of CR until 1960 when Bayer brought a plant on stream. This was followed in 1962 by Denki Kagaku, in 1963 by Showa and in 1966 by Distugil using the butadiene route developed by the Distillers Co. in England. 

Further impetus was given by the major explosion at the Du Pont, Louisville site in 1965. The overall aspects of economy and safety have resulted in all manufacturing facilities being converted to the butadiene route. The essential steps in the process may be represented as ... 

A more demanding dynamical study aimed to rationalize the product distribution in photochemical cycloaddition, looking at butadiene-butadiene [82]. A large number of products are possible, with two routes on the excited Si state leading back to channels on the ground state. The results are promising, as the MMVB dynamics find the major products found experimentally. They also... 

UNSUBSTITUTED BUTADIENE. Butadiene anchors were presented in Figures 1(3) and 13. The basic tetrahedral character of the conical intersection (as for H4) is expected to be maintained, when considering the re-pairing of four electrons. Flowever, the situation is more complicated (and the photochemistiy much richer), since here p electrons are involved rather than s electrons as in H4. It is therefore necessary to consider the consequences of the p-orbital rotation, en route to a new sigma bond. 

Butadiene is an industrial chemical and is prepared by dehydrogena tion of butane Elimination reactions such as dehydration and dehydro halogenation are common routes to alkadienes... 

Since the six carbons shown above have 10 additional bonds, the variety of substituents they carry or the structures they can be a part of is quite varied, making the Diels-Alder reaction a powerful synthetic tool in organic chemistry. A moment s reflection will convince us that a molecule like structure [XVI] is monofunctional from the point of view of the Diels-Alder condensation. If the Diels-Alder reaction is to be used for the preparation of polymers, the reactants must be bis-dienes and bis-dienophiles. If the diene, the dienophile, or both are part of a ring system to begin with, a polycyclic product results. One of the first high molecular weight polymers prepared by this synthetic route was the product resulting from the reaction of 2-vinyl butadiene [XIX] and benzoquinone [XX] ... 

Adiponitrile is made commercially by several different processes utilizing different feedstocks. The original process, utilizing adipic acid (qv) as a feedstock, was first commercialized by DuPont in the late 1930s and was the basis for a number of adiponitrile plants. However, the adipic acid process was abandoned by DuPont in favor of two processes based on butadiene (qv). During the 1960s, Monsanto and Asahi developed routes to adiponitrile by the electrodimerization of acrylonitrile (qv). 

DuPont currentiy practices a butadiene-to-adiponittile route based on direct addition of HCN to butadiene (6—9). It was first commercialized in 1971. AH reactions are catalyzed by soluble, air and moisture sensitive, ttiarylphosphite-nickel(0) complexes. 

Toward the end of the war, an alternative German route to butadiene was introduced which required much less acetylene ... 

Ma.nufa.cture. Most butanediol is manufactured in Reppe plants via hydrogenation of butynediol. Recendy an alternative route involving acetoxyiation of butadiene has come on stream and, more recendy, a route based upon hydroformylation of allyl alcohol. Woddwide butanediol capacity has climbed steadily for many years. In 1990 it was estimated to be 428,000 metric tons (141), as compared to a Htde more than 70,000 metric tons in 1975... 

At one time, the only commercial route to 2-chloro-1,3-butadiene (chloroprene), the monomer for neoprene, was from acetylene (see Elastomers, synthetic). In the United States, Du Pont operated two plants in which acetylene was dimeri2ed to vinylacetylene with a cuprous chloride catalyst and the vinyl-acetylene reacted with hydrogen chloride to give 2-chloro-1,3-butadiene. This process was replaced in 1970 with a butadiene-based process in which butadiene is chlorinated and dehydrochlorinated to yield the desired product (see Chlorocarbonsandchlorohydrocarbons). 

There are three commercial routes to ADN in use. The first method, direct hydrocyanation of 1,3-butadiene [106-99-0] has replaced an older process, cyanation via reaction of sodium cyanide with 1,4-dichlorobutane [110-56-5] owing to the lower cost and fewer waste products of the new process. During the initial steps of the direct hydrocyanation process, a mixture of two isomers is generated, but the branched isomer is readily converted to the linear 3-pentenenitrile [4635-87-4]. 

Nylon-12. Laurolactam [947-04-6] is the usual commercial monomer for nylon-12 [24937-16-4] manufacture. Its production begins with the mixture of cyclododecanol and cyclododecanone which is formed in the production of dodecanedioic acid starting from butadiene. The mixture is then converted quantitatively to cyclododecanone via dehydrogenation of the alcohol at 230—245°C and atmospheric pressure. The conversion to the lactam by the rearrangement of the oxime is similar to that for caprolactam manufacture. There are several other, less widely used commercial routes to laurolactam (171). 

The manufacture of hexamethylenediamine [124-09-4] a key comonomer in nylon-6,6 production proceeds by a two-step HCN addition reaction to produce adiponittile [111-69-3] NCCH2CH2CH2CH2CN. The adiponittile is then hydrogenated to produce the desired diamine. The other half of nylon-6,6, adipic acid (qv), can also be produced from butadiene by means of either of two similar routes involving the addition of CO. Reaction between the diamine and adipic acid [124-04-5] produces nylon-6,6. 

The other CO route for adipic acid manufacture involves 1,4-addition of CO and O2 to butadiene to produce an intermediate, which is subsequently hydrogenated and hydroly2ed to adipic acid (50). This is called the oxycarbonylation process. Both the BASF and the oxycarbonylation processes have been intensively investigated. 

Butanol is produced commercially by the indirect hydration of / -butenes. However, current trends are towards the employment of inexpensive Raffinate 11 type feedstocks, ie, C-4 refinery streams containing predominandy / -butenes and saturated C-4s after removal of butadiene and isobutylene. In the traditional indirect hydration process, / -butenes are esterified with Hquid sulfuric acid and the intermediate butyl sulfate esters hydroly2ed. DEA Mineraloel (formerly Deutsche Texaco) currentiy operates a 2-butanol plant employing a direct hydration of / -butenes route (18) with their own proprietary catalyst. 

There are currentiy three important processes for the production of isobutylene (/) the extraction process using an acid to separate isobutylene (2) the dehydration of tert-huty alcohol, formed in the Arco s Oxirane process and (3) the cracking of MTBE. The expected demand for MTBE wHl preclude the third route for isobutylene production. Since MTBE is likely to replace tert-huty alcohol as a gasoline additive, the second route could become an important source for isobutylene. Nevertheless, its avaHabHity wHl be limited by the demand for propylene oxide, since it is only a coproduct. An alternative process is emerging that consists of catalyticaHy hydroisomerizing 1-butene to 2-butenes (82). In this process, trace quantities of butadienes are also hydrogenated to yield feedstocks rich in isobutylene which can then be easHy separated from 2-butenes by simple distHlation. 

The vinylacetylene [689-97-4] route to chloroprene has been described elsewhere (14). It is no longer practical because of costs except where inexpensive by-product acetylene and existing equipment ate available (see Acetylene-DERIVED chemicals). In the production of chloroprene from butadiene [106-99-0], there are three essential steps, chlorination, isomerization, and caustic dehydrochlorination of the 3,3-dichloro-l-butene, as shown by the following equations Chlorination... 

A novel route to azelaic acid is based on butadiene. Butadiene is dimerized to 1,5-cyclooctadiene, which is carbonylated to the monoester in the presence of an alcohol. Hydrolysis of this ester foUowed by a caustic cleavage step produces azelaic acid in both high yield and purity (56). 

Ethanol s use as a chemical iatemiediate (Table 8) suffered considerably from its replacement ia the production of acetaldehyde, butyraldehyde, acetic acid, and ethyUiexanol. The switch from the ethanol route to those products has depressed demand for ethanol by more than 300 x 10 L (80 x 10 gal) siace 1970. This decrease reflects newer technologies for the manufacture of acetaldehyde and acetic acid, which is the largest use for acetaldehyde, by direct routes usiag ethylene, butane (173), and methanol. Oxo processes (qv) such as Union Carbide s Low Pressure Oxo process for the production of butanol and ethyUiexanol have totaUy replaced the processes based on acetaldehyde. For example, U.S. consumption of ethanol for acetaldehyde manufacture declined steadily from 50% ia 1962 to 37% ia 1964 and none ia 1990. Butadiene was made from ethanol on a large scale duriag World War II, but this route is no longer competitive with butadiene derived from petroleum operations. 

Commercial routes from acrylonitrile and from caprolactam have also been developed. This diamine may also be prepared from furfural and from butadiene. 

Certain 1,5 diazabicyclo[3 3 0]oct-2-enes can be transformed unexpectedly into 4//-5,5-dihydro-l, 2 diazepines on heating [209] 1,5-Dipoles formed on heating of l,5-diazabicyclo[3 3 0]oct-2-enes [210] can be trapped with olefins to give [3+2] cycloadducts At elevated temperatures, they undergo a [3+2] cycloreversion Tins reaction sequence offers a simple route to dienes with interesting substitution patterns, for example, 1,1 bis(trifluoromethyl)-l,3-butadiene [211] The [3+2] cycloadducts that arise from the reaction of the 1,5 dipoles with acetylenes undergo... 

Butane is primarily used as a fuel gas within the LPG mixture. Like ethane and propane, the main chemical use of butane is as feedstock for steam cracking units for olefin production. Dehydrogenation of n-butane to butenes and to butadiene is an important route for the production of synthetic rubber. n-Butane is also a starting material for acetic acid and maleic anhydride production (Chapter 6). 

Butadiene can be alternatively produced by other synthetic routes discussed with the synthesis of isoprene, the second major diolefin for rubber production. 

The production of 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BDO) from propylene via the carbonylation of allyl acetate is noted in Chapter 8. 1,4-Butanediol from maleic anhydride is discussed later in this chapter. An alternative route for the diol is through the acetoxylation of butadiene with acetic acid followed by hydrogenation and hydrolysis. 

In the Monsanto/Lummus Crest process (Figure 10-3), fresh ethylbenzene with recycled unconverted ethylbenzene are mixed with superheated steam. The steam acts as a heating medium and as a diluent. The endothermic reaction is carried out in multiple radial bed reactors filled with proprietary catalysts. Radial beds minimize pressure drops across the reactor. A simulation and optimization of styrene plant based on the Lummus Monsanto process has been done by Sundaram et al. Yields could be predicted, and with the help of an optimizer, the best operating conditions can be found. Figure 10-4 shows the effect of steam-to-EB ratio, temperature, and pressure on the equilibrium conversion of ethylbenzene. Alternative routes for producing styrene have been sought. One approach is to dimerize butadiene to 4-vinyl-1-cyclohexene, followed by catalytic dehydrogenation to styrene ... 

Adipic acid may also be produced from butadiene via a carbonylation route (Chapter 9). 

Butadiene has the advantage of a relatively low heat of reaction (995 kJ/ mol compared with 1875 kJ/mol in the oxidation of benzene), but the disadvantage of a relatively high price compared with the other -C4 hydrocarbons. Good prospects has the n-butane route. Keeping the n-butane conversion at about 15%, the yield of maleic acid anhydride amounts to 50-60 mol %. 

The observation of Tsuji et al. 148) concerned with copolymerization of 1- or 2-phenyl butadiene with styrene or butadiene illustrates again the importance of the distinction between the classic, direct monomer addition to the carbanion, and the addition involving coordination with Li4. The living polymer of 1- or 2-phenyl butadiene initiated by sec-butyl lithium forms a block polymer on subsequent addition of styrene or butadiene provided that the reaction proceeds in toluene. However, these block polymers are not formed when the reaction takes place in THF. The relatively unreactive anions derived from phenyl butadienes do not add styrene or butadiene, while the addition eventually takes place in hydrocarbons on coordination of the monomers with Li4. The addition through the coordination route is more facile than the classic one. 

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