Catalyzed Oxydecarboxylative Phenol Synthesis

Cu-Catalyzed Oxidative Carbonylation of Methanol for the Synthesis of Dimethyl 

Several complications in the Enichem process constrain the scale of the reactor volume [12]. The reaction is so exothermic that the reactor needs to be cooled to maintain the optimal 130 °C temperature. Vaporization of the reaction mixture removes only a fraction of the water by-product, and concentration of the water in the reactor hampers the selectivity and rate of the reaction. Therefore, the methanol conversion per run is limited to 20%. The presence of HCl necessitates the use of corrosion-resistant reactors, and either glass linings or high-nickel alloys are used. 

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