2- Butene Wacker process

The future of the commercial acetaldehyde processes mainly depends on the availability of cheap ethylene. Acetaldehyde has been replaced as a precursor for 2-ethylhexanol ( aldol route ) or acetic acid (via oxidation cf. Sections 2.1.2.1 and 2.4.4). New processes for the manufacture of acetic acid are the Monsanto process (carbonylation of methanol, cf. Section 2.1.2.1), the Showa Denko one-step gas-phase oxidation of ethylene with a Pd-heteropolyacid catalyst [75, 76], and Wacker butene oxidation [77]. Other outlets for acetaldehyde such as pentaerythritol and pyridines cannot fill the large world production capacities. Only the present low price of ethylene keeps the Wacker process still attractive. 

The selectivity of palladium and gold for alkene oxidation to aldehydes 28,29,170) was attributed initially to adsorption strength. However, electrooxidation in the presence of palladium ions indicates possible homogeneous alkene insertion, similar to the Wacker process 304). Homogeneous reaction is also involved in redox oxidations of hydrocarbons. In this case, the nature of the metal ions is expected to control selectivity. Indeed, toluene yields 20% benzaldehyde in electrolytes containing Ce salts, while oxidation proceeds to benzoic acid with Cr redox catalysts 311). In addition, the concentration of redox catalysts appears to affect yields in nonelectrochemical oxidation of ethylene large amounts of palladium chloride promote butene formation at the expense of acetaldehyde 312). Finally, the role of the electrolyte and solvent should not be ignored. For instance, electrooxidation of ethylene on carbon, in aqueous solution of acetic acid yields acetaldehyde 313) in the... 

Another attractive commercial route to MEK is via direct oxidation of / -butenes (34—39) in a reaction analogous to the Wacker-Hoechst process for acetaldehyde production via ethylene oxidation. In the Wacker-Hoechst process the oxidation of olefins is conducted in an aqueous solution containing palladium and copper chlorides. However, unlike acetaldehyde production, / -butene oxidation has not proved commercially successflil because chlorinated butanones and butyraldehyde by-products form which both reduce yields and compHcate product purification, and also because titanium-lined equipment is required to withstand chloride corrosion. 

Diacetoxylation of 1,3-butadiene is a process that drew much attention since the product l,4-diacetoxy-2-butene may be converted to 1,4-butanediol and tetrahydro-furan by further transformations (see Section 9.5.2). The liquid-phase acetoxylation of 1,3-butadiene in a Wacker-type system yields isomeric 1,2- and cis- and trans-1,4-diacetoxybutenes ... 

The major conventional processes for the production of acetic acid include the carbonylation of methanol (originally developed by Monsanto, and now carried out by several companies, such as Celanese-ACID OPTIMIZATION, BP-CATIVA, etc.), the liquid-phase oxidation of acetaldehyde, still carried out by a few companies, and the liquid-phase oxidation of n-butane and naphtha. More recent developments include the gas-phase oxidation of ethylene, developed by Showa Denko K.K., and the liquid-phase oxidation of butenes, developed by Wacker [2a],... 

The decrease in activity of heterogeneous Wacker catalysts in the oxidation of 1-butene is caused by two processes. The catalyst, based on PdS04 deposited on a vanadium oxide redox layer on a high surface area support material, is reduced under reaction conditions, which leads to an initial drop in activity. When the steady-state activity is reached a further deactivation is observed which is caused by sintering of the vanadium oxide layer. This sintering is very pronounced for 7-alumina-supported catalysts. In titania (anatase)-supported catalysts deactivation is less due to the fact that the vanadium oxide layer is stabilized by the titania support. After the initial decrease, the activity remains stable for more than 700 h. 

To overcome the problems encountered in the homogeneous Wacker oxidation of higher alkenes several attempts have been undertaken to develop a gas-phase version of the process. The first heterogeneous catalysts were prepared by the deposition of palladium chloride and copper chloride on support materials, such as zeolite Y [2,3] or active carbon [4]. However, these catalysts all suffered from rapid deactivation. Other authors applied other redox components such as vanadium pentoxide [5,6] or p-benzoquinone [7]. The best results have been achieved with catalysts based on palladium salts deposited on a monolayer of vanadium oxide spread out over a high surface area support material, such as y-alumina [8]. Van der Heide showed that with catalysts consisting of H2PdCU deposited on a monolayer vanadium oxide supported on y-alumina, ethene as well as 1-butene and styrene... 

Deactivation of heterogeneous Wacker oxidation catalysts is mainly caused by sintering of the vanadium oxide redox layer, resulting in the accumulation of (inactive) Pd(0), and hence in lower catalytic activity in the oxidation of 1-butene. The sintering process is... 

The liquid phase processes resembled Wacker-Hoechst s acetaldehyde process, i.e., acetic acid solutions of PdCl2 and CuCl2 are used as catalysts. The water produced from the oxidation of Cu(I) to Cu(II) (Figure 27) forms acetaldehyde in a secondary reaction with ethylene. The ratio of acetaldehyde to vinyl acetate can be regulated by changing the operating conditions. The reaction takes place at 110-130°C and 30-40 bar. The vinyl acetate selectivity reaches 93% (based on acetic acid). The net selectivity to acetaldehyde and vinyl acetate is about 83% (based on ethylene), the by-products being CO2, formic acid, oxalic acid, butene and chlorinated compounds. The reaction solution is very corrosive, so that titanium must be used for many plant components. After a few years of operation, in 1969-1970 both ICI and Celanese shut down their plants due to corrosion and economic problems. 

Both n-olefms give mainly butanone. From 1-butene some butyraldehyde (buta-nal) is obtained, but 3-chlorobutanone is formed as the main secondary product, to a particularly high extent [49]. Evidently chlorination by cupric chloride analogously to eq. (30) is particularly favored at the secondary C-atom. In order to commercialize this process an outlet for this product has to be found, e.g., in the synthesis of organics. In this field Wacker-Chemie has been quite successful, so, despite the fact that no commercial plant for butanone has been erected, this company now produces 3-chlorobutanone separately through chlorination of butanone with cupric chloride. For the pilot plant the two-stage technology was used. 

Direct oxidation of n-butenes by the Wacker/Hoechst process, in the presence of palladium and copper chlorides, around 110°C, at 13.10 Pa absolute, with a yield of 85 to 88 molar per cent (see Section 103.3). 

Butene-1 and butene-2 give methyl ethyl ketone (butanone) on oxidation with PdCl2 and CuClj. But here, a particularly high amount of chlorinated butanone, that is, 3-chlorobutanone-2, is formed. Although this product proved to be a valuable starting material for organic syntheses, the process did not gain industrial interest. Wacker ran a pilot plant [38]. 

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