Catalysts anthraquinones

Anthraquinone itself is traditionally available from the anthracene of coal tar by oxidation, often with chromic acid or nitric acid a more modern alternative method is that of air oxidation using vanadium(V) oxide as catalyst. Anthraquinone is also produced in the reaction of benzene with benzene-1,2-dicarboxylic anhydride (6.4 phthalic anhydride) using a Lewis acid catalyst, typically aluminium chloride. This Friedel-Crafts acylation gives o-benzoylbenzoic acid (6.5) which undergoes cyclodehydration when heated in concentrated sulphuric acid (Scheme 6.2). Phthalic anhydride is readily available from naphthalene or from 1,2-dimethylbenzene (o-xylene) by catalytic air oxidation. 

The authors devised the new bidentate titanium catalyst (anthraquinone-l,8-di-oxy)bis(triisopropoxytitanium) (55) and utilized it for the simultaneous coordination of carbonyl substrates [59]. Comparison of the reactivity and selectivity with the corresponding monodentate titanium catalyst 56 in several synthetic examples genuinely demonstrates the high double-activation ability of 55 toward carbonyls under catalytic conditions as illustrated in Scheme 1-20. 

Of little use commercially except as a route to anthraquinone. For this purpose it is oxidized with acid potassium dichromate solution, or better, by a catalytic air oxidation at 180-280 C, using vanadates or other metal oxide catalysts. 

The above method has now been largely replaced by a newer process, in which the substance 2-ethylanthraquinone is reduced by hydrogen in presence of a catalyst to 2-ethylanthraquinol when this substance is oxidised by air, hydrogen peroxide is formed and the original anthraquinone is recovered ... 

The chemical yield of hydrogen peroxide and the anthraquinone per process cycle is very high, but other secondary reactions necessitate regeneration of the working solution and hydrogenation catalyst, and the removal of organic material from the extracted hydrogen peroxide. 

Anthraquinone can be sulfonated, nitrated, or halogenated. Sulfonation is of the greatest technical importance because the sulfonic acid group can be readily replaced by an amino or chloro group. Sulfonation with 20—25% oleum at a temperature of 130—135°C produces predominandy anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid [84-48-0]. By the use of a stronger oleum, disulfonic acids are produced. The second sulfonic acid substituent never enters the same ring a mixture of 2,6- and 2,7-disulfonic acids is formed (Wayne-Armstrong rule). In order to sulfonate in the 1-, 1,5-, or 1,8-positions, mercury or one of its salts must be used as a catalyst. 

Use of mercuric catalysts has created a serious pollution problem thereby limiting the manufacture of such acids. Other catalysts such as palladium or mthenium have been proposed (17). Nitration of anthraquinone has been studied intensively in an effort to obtain 1-nitroanthraquinone [82-34-8] suitable for the manufacture of 1-aminoanthraquinone [82-45-1]. However, the nitration proceeds so rapidly that a mixture of mono- and dinitroanthraquinone is produced. It has not been possible, economically, to separate from this mixture 1-nitroanthraquinone in a yield and purity suitable for the manufacture of 1-aminoanthraquinone. Chlorination of anthraquinone cannot be used to manufacture 1-chloroanthraquinone [82-44-0] since polychlorinated products are formed readily. Consequentiy, 1-chloroanthraquinone is manufactured by reaction of anthraquinone-l-sulfonic acid [82-49-5] with sodium chlorate and hydrochloric acid (18). 

Mechanism of Anthraquinone Acceleration. The mechanism for the dual function of AQ has been the subject of much research (29). Anthraquinone is an effective pulping accelerator in very small quantities and functions as a catalyst in the process. It is generally accepted that AQ functions in a complex redox sequence. 

The vapor-phase oxidation (VPO) of butadiene with air at 200—500°C produces maleic anhydride [108-31-6]. Catalysts used are based on vanadium and molybdenum oxides (89,90). Alternatively, when using a catalyst containing Al, Mo, and Ti, butadiene undergoes a complex series of condensations and oxidations to form anthraquinone at 250°C (91). 

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. 

Many anthraquinone reactive and acid dyes are derived from bromamine acid. The bromine atom is replaced with appropriate amines in the presence of copper catalyst in water or water—alcohol mixtures in the presence of acid binding agents such as alkaU metal carbonate, bicarbonate, hydroxide, or acetate (Ullmaim condensation reaction). 

The main by-products of the Ullmaim condensation are l-aniinoanthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid and l-amino-4-hydroxyanthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid. The choice of copper catalyst affects the selectivity of these by-products. Generally, metal copper powder or copper(I) salt catalyst has a greater reactivity than copper(Il) salts. However, they are likely to yield the reduced product (l-aniinoanthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid). The reaction mechanism has not been estabUshed. It is very difficult to clarify which oxidation state of copper functions as catalyst, since this reaction involves fast redox equiUbria where anthraquinone derivatives and copper compounds are concerned. Some evidence indicates that the catalyst is probably a copper(I) compound (28,29). 

Anthraquinone-l,5-disulfonic acid [117-14-6] (44), and anthraquinone-1, 8-disulfonic acid [82-48-4] (45) are produced from anthraquinone by disulfonation in oleum a higher concentration of SO than that used for 1-sulfonic acid is employed in the presence of mercury catalyst (64,65). After completion of sulfonation, 1,5-disulfonic acid is precipitated by addition of dilute sulfuric acid and separated. After clarification with charcoal, 1,5-disulfonic acid is precipitated as the sodium salt by addition of sodium chloride. The 1,8-disulfonic acid is isolated as the potassium salt from the sulfuric acid mother hquor by addition of potassium chloride solution. 

Olah et al. (1999) have been able to realize selective cyclisation of o-benzoyl benzoic acid to anthraquinone using dichlorobenzene as a solvent and Nafion-H as a catalyst. This may lead to avoidance of the Friedel-Crafts reaction using a stoichiometric amount of aluminium chloride and resulting in a lot of wa,ste. Many other examples of similar reactions have been reported. 

Olah and co-workers have used supported Nafion as a catalyst for cyclisation of benzoyl benzoic acid to anthraquinones, which otherwise requires concentrated sulphuric acid (Eqn. (9)). 

An alternative route to anthraquinone, which involves Friedel-Crafts acylation, is illustrated in Scheme 4.3. This route uses benzene and phthalic anhydride as starting materials. In the presence of aluminium(m) chloride, a Lewis acid catalyst, these compounds react to form 2-benzoyl-benzene-1-carboxylic acid, 74. The intermediate 74 is then heated with concentrated sulfuric acid under which conditions cyclisation to anthraquinone 52 takes place. Both stages of this reaction sequence involve Friedel-Crafts acylation reactions. In the first stage the reaction is inter-molecular, while the second step in which cyclisation takes place, involves an intramolecular reaction. In contrast to the oxidation route, the Friedel-Crafts route offers considerable versatility. A range of substituted... 

The addition of anthraquinone (a chemical catalyst produced from coal tar) to the pulping liquor has been shown to speed up the kraft pulping reaction and increase yield by protecting cellulose fibers from degradation. The anthraquinone accelerates the fragmentation of lignin, allowing it to be... 

Stretford A process for removing hydrogen sulfide and organic sulfur compounds from coal gas and general refinery streams by air oxidation to elementary sulfur, using a cyclic process involving an aqueous solution of a vanadium catalyst and anthraquinone disulfonic acid. Developed in the late 1950s by the North West Gas Board (later British Gas) and the Clayton Aniline Company, in Stretford, near Manchester. It is the principle process used today, with over 150 plants licensed in Western countries and at least 100 in China. 

Catalytic amounts of this addend (4 equiv relative to Cu) increase the selectivity of the allylic oxidation when TBHP is used as the oxidant. No change was observed with terf-butyl perbenzoate. This observation suggests a dichotomy in the mechanism of this reaction when using the two oxidants. Furthermore, in the absence of anthraquinone, a small negative nonlinear effect (78) is observed while in its presence, a small positive nonlinear effect appears. The reasons for this reversal are not clear, although the authors observed that low enantiopurity catalysts lead to turbid... 

Heavy metals are widely used as catalysts in the manufacture of anthraquinonoid dyes. Mercury is used when sulphonating anthraquinones and copper when reacting arylamines with bromoanthraquinones. Much effort has been devoted to minimising the trace metal content of such colorants and in effluents from dyemaking plants. Metal salts are used as reactants in dye synthesis, particularly in the ranges of premetallised acid, direct or reactive dyes, which usually contain copper, chromium, nickel or cobalt. These structures are described in detail in Chapter 5, where the implications in terms of environmental problems are also discussed. Certain basic dyes and stabilised azoic diazo components (Fast Salts) are marketed in the form of tetrachlorozincate complex salts. The environmental impact of the heavy metal salts used in dye application processes is dealt with in Volume 2. 

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