Carbon formic acid

Good solvent - acetic acid, chlorophenol, m-cresol, ethylene carbonate, formic acid, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, trichloroacetic acid ... 

Carbon monoxide is formed by the incomplete combustion of carbon. It is prepared in the laboratory by dropping methanoic (formic) acid into warm concentrated sulphuric acid the latter dehydrates the methanoic acid ... 

CH2(0H)CH(0H)CH2(0H) + HCOOH reaches about 100°, losing carbon dioxide and giving glyceryl monoformate (B). On further heating, particularly if more oxalic acid is added, the mono formate is hydrolysed (the necessary water being provided both by the oxalic acid and by the first reaction), and consequently a distillate of aqueous formic acid is obtained. 

A considerable amount of the formic acid, however, still remains behind in the distilling-flask as the unhydrolysed monoformate. Therefore, if time allows, dilute the residue in the flask with about an equal volume of water, and then steam-distil, the monoformate ester being thus completely hydrolysed and the formic acid then driven over in the steam. Collect about 400 ml. of distillate. Add this distillate to that obtained by direct heating of the reaction mixture and then treat with lead carbonate as described above. Total yield of lead formate is now about 40 g. 

If the reaction mixture used in the above preparation of formic acid is heated to 190-200°, the glyceryl monoformate which has escaped hydrolysis undergoes decomposition, with the loss of carbon dioxide and water, and the... 

Carbon monoxide test. Warm together carefully 0 5 ml. of formic acid (or 0 5 g. of a formate) and i ml. of cone. 112804. Identify the carbon monoxide by igniting the gas evolved and observing the pale blue flame travel down the test-tube. Note that dilute solutions of formic acid will not give this test. HCOOH — HjO — CO. 

In some instances the use of sulphuric acid leads to unsatisfactory results. Thus with formic acid carbon monoxide would be evolved. Esters of formic acid are most simply prepared from the alcohol and excess of formic acid, for example ... 

Treat the combined distiUates of b.p. 195-260° with anhydrous potassium carbonate to neutralise the Uttle formic acid present and to salt out the allyl alcohol. Distil the latter through a fractionating column and collect the fraction of b.p, up to 99° separately this weighs 210 g, and consists of 70 per cent, allyl alcohol. To obtain anli5 dious allyl alcohol, use either of the following procedures —... 

By passing a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen chloride into the aromatic hydrocarbon in the presence of a mixture of cuprous chloride and aluminium chloride which acts as a catalyst (Gattermann - Koch reaction). The mixture of gases probably reacts as the equivalent of the unisolated acid chloride of formic acid (formyl chloride) ... 

Place 27 g. of o-phenylenediamine (Section IV,92) in a 250 ml. round-bottomed flask and add 17 -5 g. (16 ml.) of 90 per cent, formic acid (1). Heat the mixture on a water bath at 100° for 2 hours. Cool, add 10 per cent sodium hydroxide solution slowly, with constant rotation of the flask, until the mixture is just alkaline to litmus. Filter off the crude benzimidazole at the pump, wash with ice-cold water, drain well and wash again with 25 ml. of cold water. Dissolve the crude product in 400 ml. of boiling water, add 2 g. of decolourising carbon, and digest for 16 minutes. Filter rapidly at the pump through a pre heated Buchner funnel and flask. Cool the filtrate to about 10°, filter off the benzimidazole, wash with 25 ml. of cold water, and dry at 100°. The yield of pure benzimidazole, m.p. 171-172°, is 26 g. 

Protonation of formic acid similarly leads, after the formation at low temperature of the parent carboxonium ion, to the formyl cation. The persistent formyl cation was observed by high-pressure NMR only recently (Horvath and Gladysz). An equilibrium with diprotonated carbon monoxide causing rapid exchange can be involved, which also explains the observed high reactivity of carbon monoxide in supera-cidic media. Not only aromatic but also saturated hydrocarbons (such as isoalkanes and adamantanes) can be readily formylated. 

The conventional electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide tends to give formic acid as the major product, which can be obtained with a 90% current efficiency using, for example, indium, tin, or mercury cathodes. Being able to convert CO2 initially to formates or formaldehyde is in itself significant. In our direct oxidation liquid feed fuel cell, varied oxygenates such as formaldehyde, formic acid and methyl formate, dimethoxymethane, trimethoxymethane, trioxane, and dimethyl carbonate are all useful fuels. At the same time, they can also be readily reduced further to methyl alcohol by varied chemical or enzymatic processes. 

The problem with removing large amounts of formic acid by distillation is that it takes a long time to do so. Really big batches can take an entire day to distill. So a second option [10] after removal of the acetone would be to cool the formic acid solution then extract the whole thing with ether. The black ether layer is then washed with an ice cold 5% sodium carbonate (Na2C03) solution to neutralize any formic acid that was carried over, then washed... 

The enone 807 is converted into the dienol triflatc 808 and then the conjugated diene 809 by the hydrogenolysis with tributylammonium for-mate[689,690]. Naphthol can be converted into naphthalene by the hydrogenolysis of its triflate 810[691-693] or sulfonates using dppp or dppf as a ligand[694]. Aryl tetrazoyl ether 811 is cleaved with formic acid using Pd on carbon as a catalyst[695]. 

Hydroxylysine (328) was synthesized by chemoselective reaction of (Z)-4-acet-oxy-2-butenyl methyl carbonate (325) with two different nucleophiles first with At,(9-Boc-protected hydroxylamine (326) under neutral conditions and then with methyl (diphenylmethyleneamino)acetate (327) in the presence of BSA[202]. The primary allylic amine 331 is prepared by the highly selective monoallylation of 4,4 -dimethoxybenzhydrylamine (329). Deprotection of the allylated secondary amine 330 with 80% formic acid affords the primary ally-lamine 331. The reaction was applied to the total synthesis of gabaculine 332(203]. 

Asymmetric hydrogenolysis of allylic esters with formic acid with satisfactory ee was observed[387], Geranyl methyl carbonate (594) was reduced to 570 with formic acid using l,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene as a base and MOP-Phen as the best chiral ligand, achieving 85% ee. 

J-unsaturated ester is formed from a terminal alkyne by the reaction of alkyl formate and oxalate. The linear a, /J-unsaturated ester 5 is obtained from the terminal alkyne using dppb as a ligand by the reaction of alkyl formate under CO pressure. On the other hand, a branehed ester, t-butyl atropate (6), is obtained exclusively by the carbonylation of phenylacetylene in t-BuOH even by using dppb[10]. Reaction of alkynes and oxalate under CO pressure also gives linear a, /J-unsaturated esters 7 and dialkynes. The use of dppb is essen-tial[l 1]. Carbonylation of 1-octyne in the presence of oxalic acid or formic acid using PhiP-dppb (2 I) and Pd on carbon affords the branched q, /J-unsatu-rated acid 8 as the main product. Formic acid is regarded as a source of H and OH in the carboxylic acids[l2]. 

Formic acid is a good reducing agent in the presence of Pd on carbon as a catalyst. Aromatic nitro compounds are reduced to aniline with formic acid[100]. Selective reduction of one nitro group in 2,4-dinitrotoluene (112) with triethylammonium formate is possible[101]. o-Nitroacetophenone (113) is first reduced to o-aminoacetophenone, then to o-ethylaniline when an excess of formate is used[102]. Ammonium and potassium formate are also used for the reduction of aliphatic and aromatic nitro compounds. Pd on carbon is a good catalyst[103,104]. NaBH4 is also used for the Pd-catalyzed reduction of nitro compounds 105]. However, the ,/)-unsaturated nitroalkene 114 is partially reduced to the oxime 115 with ammonium formate[106]... 

The heterocyclic rings in quinoline (116) and isoquinoline are selectively reduced by Pd on carbon-catalyzed reaction of ammonium formatc[107]. Some benzene rings are also reduced. For example, nitrobenzene is reduced to cyclohexylamine (117) with formic acid. It is important to use a sevenfold excess of formic acid[108]. 

The structural features of the carboxyl group are most apparent m formic acid Formic acid IS planar with one of its carbon-oxygen bonds shorter than the other and with bond angles at carbon close to 120°... 

FIGURE 19 1 Carbon -W and both oxygens are sp hybridized in formic acid The TT component of the C=0 group and the p or bital of the OH oxygen over lap to form an extended it system that includes carbon and both oxygens... 

When three contiguous carbons bear hydroxyl groups two moles of periodate is consumed per mole of carbohydrate and the central carbon is oxidized to a molecule of formic acid... 

Anhydrous, monomeric formaldehyde is not available commercially. The pure, dry gas is relatively stable at 80—100°C but slowly polymerizes at lower temperatures. Traces of polar impurities such as acids, alkahes, and water greatly accelerate the polymerization. When Hquid formaldehyde is warmed to room temperature in a sealed ampul, it polymerizes rapidly with evolution of heat (63 kj /mol or 15.05 kcal/mol). Uncatalyzed decomposition is very slow below 300°C extrapolation of kinetic data (32) to 400°C indicates that the rate of decomposition is ca 0.44%/min at 101 kPa (1 atm). The main products ate CO and H2. Metals such as platinum (33), copper (34), and chromia and alumina (35) also catalyze the formation of methanol, methyl formate, formic acid, carbon dioxide, and methane. Trace levels of formaldehyde found in urban atmospheres are readily photo-oxidized to carbon dioxide the half-life ranges from 35—50 minutes (36). 

Formaldehyde is readily reduced to methanol by hydrogen over many metal and metal oxide catalysts. It is oxidized to formic acid or carbon dioxide and water. The Cannizzaro reaction gives formic acid and methanol. Similarly, a vapor-phase Tischenko reaction is catalyzed by copper (34) and boric acid (38) to produce methyl formate ... 

Between 50 and 60% of the formaldehyde is formed by the exothermic reaction (eq. 23) and the remainder by endothermic reaction (eq. 24) with the net result of a reaction exotherm. Carbon monoxide and dioxide, methyl formate, and formic acid are by-products. In addition, there are also physical losses, hquid-phase reactions, and small quantities of methanol in the product, resulting in an overall plant yield of 86—90% (based on methanol). 

In contrast to the silver process, all of the formaldehyde is made by the exothermic reaction (eq. 23) at essentially atmospheric pressure and at 300—400°C. By proper temperature control, a methanol conversion greater than 99% can be maintained. By-products are carbon monoxide and dimethyl ether, in addition to small amounts of carbon dioxide and formic acid. Overall plant yields are 88—92%. 

Formic acid [64-18-6] (methanoic acid) is the first member of the homologous series of alkyl carboxyHc acids. It occurs naturally ia the defensive secretions of a number of insects, particularly of ants. Although the acid nature of the vapors above ants nests had been known since at least 1488, the pure acid was not isolated until 1671, when the British chemist John Ray described the isolation of the pure acid by distillation of ants (1). This remained the main preparative method for more than a century until a convenient laboratory method was discovered by Gay-Lussac (2). The preparation of formates using carbon monoxide was described by Berthelot in 1856. 

Coproductioa of ammonium sulfate is a disadvantage of the formamide route, and it has largely been supplanted by processes based on the direct hydrolysis of methyl formate. If the methanol is recycled to the carbonylation step the stoichiometry corresponds to the production of formic acid by hydration of carbon monoxide, a reaction which is too thermodynamicaHy unfavorable to be carried out directly on an iadustrial scale. 

The carboaylatioa of methanol to give formic acid is carried out ia the Hquid phase with the aid of a basic catalyst such as sodium methoxide. It is important to minimi2e the presence of water and carbon dioxide ia the startiag materials, as these cause deactivatioa of the catalyst. The reactioa is an equHibrium, and elevated pressures are necessary to give good conversions. Typical reaction conditions appear to be 80°C, 4.5 MPa (44 atm) pressure and 2.5% w/w of catalyst. Under these conditions the methanol conversion is around 30% (25). 

Other potential processes for production of formic acid that have been patented but not yet commerciali2ed include Hquid-phase oxidation (31) of methanol to methyl formate, and hydrogenation of carbon dioxide (32). The catalytic dehydrogenation of methanol to methyl formate (33) has not yet been adapted for formic acid production. 

Formic acid is commonly shipped in road or raH tankers or dmms. For storage of the 85% acid at lower temperatures, containers of stainless steel (ASTM grades 304, 316, or 321), high density polyethylene, polypropylene, or mbber-lined carbon steels can be used (34). For higher concentrations. Austenitic stainless steels (ASTM 316) are recommended. 

Attention must be paid to the fact that formic acid, particularly at higher concentrations and temperatures, can, on storage, slowly decompose to Hberate carbon monoxide. This can lead to safety ha2ards from the ensuing buHdup ia pressure or from the toxicity of carboa moaoxide. It has beea estimated that, ia the abseace of leakage, a full 2.5-L bottle of formic acid could develop a pressure of over 700 kPa (7 atm) over a period of oae year at... 

Intermediate formation of formyl chloride is not necessary since the actual alkylating agent, HCO", can be produced by protonation of carbon monoxide or its complexes. However, it is difficult to obtain an equimolar mixture of anhydrous hydrogen chloride and carbon monoxide. Suitable laboratory preparations involve the reaction of chlorosulfonic acid with formic acid or the reaction of ben2oyl chloride with formic acid ... 

Olefins are carbonylated in concentrated sulfuric acid at moderate temperatures (0—40°C) and low pressures with formic acid, which serves as the source of carbon monoxide (Koch-Haaf reaction) (187). Liquid hydrogen fluoride, preferably in the presence of boron trifluoride, is an equally good catalyst and solvent system (see Carboxylic acids). 

Most weak base anion exchangers adsorbweak organic acids such as formic acid [64-18-6] and acetic acid [64-19-7] but do not remove weak organic acids such as carbonic acid [463-79-6] or siHcic acid [7669-41 ]. 

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