Chemicals acetone

PROPENE The major use of propene is in the produc tion of polypropylene Two other propene derived organic chemicals acrylonitrile and propylene oxide are also starting materials for polymer synthesis Acrylonitrile is used to make acrylic fibers (see Table 6 5) and propylene oxide is one component in the preparation of polyurethane polymers Cumene itself has no direct uses but rather serves as the starting material in a process that yields two valuable indus trial chemicals acetone and phenol... 

The synthesis of dehydro-hnalool (28) rehes on the basic chemicals acetone and acetjiene. Addition of a metal acetyUde to acetone yields methylbutynol (33). Semihydrogenation affords the alkene (34) which is reacted with /-propenylmethyl ether. A Cope rearrangement of the adduct yields methyUieptenone (35). Addition of a second mole of metal acetyUde to dehydro-linalool (28) is followed by a second Cope rearrangement to yield... 

The first methacrylic esters were prepared by dehydration of hydroxyisobutyric esters, prohibitively expensive starting points for commercial synthesis. In 1932 J. W. C. Crawford discovered a new route to the monomer using cheap and readily available chemicals—acetone, hydrocyanic acid, methanol and sulphuric acid— and it is his process which has been used, with minor modifications, throughout the world. Sheet poly(methyl methacrylate) became prominent during World War II for aircraft glazing, a use predicted by Hill in his early patents, and since then has found other applications in many fields. 

Solubility — the amount of a given substance (the solute) that dissolves in a unit volume of a liquid (the solvent). This property is of importance in the handling and recovery of spilled hazardous materials. Water-insoluble ehemicals are much easier to reeover from water than spills of water-soluble chemicals. Acetone, which is miscible/soluble in water in all proportions, is not readily reeoverable from water. In contrast, benzene, which is lighter than water and insoluble as well, can be readily trapped with a skimmer. For organie eompounds, solubility tends to deerease with inereasing moleeular weight and ehlorine content. 

In Figure 6-21 a is an example of a marking for a glove positively tested against the chemicals acetone (B), sodium hydroxide solution 30% (K) and sulfuric acid 96% (L). Figure 6.21b shows the new pictogram for a water-resistant glove. 

Reduction may also be achieved by the reduction of exposure time to a hazard, such as would be the case when managing the exposure time of persons involved in the transportation, storage, use and disposal of chemicals such as solvents. The Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) assigned to acetone, for example, is 500 ppm in an 8-hour period, thus reducing exposure to the prescribed limit ensures that persons are kept free from ill health arising from the hazardous chemical. Acetone is, however, a chemical with a low flashpoint so even a small amount could present a fire and explosion risk and thus reducing the volume is also a fire control measure. 

Hundreds of test methods referring to polyolefin properties are actually employed. They consist of both physical (hardness, stiffness, tensile properties, solubility, viscosity, etc.) and chemical (acetone extractable, carbonyl content, etc.) tests, representing the objects of international, national, or industrial standards and specifications. Some of them, elaborated by ASTM Committee D-20, Subcommittee XII, Polyolefin Plastics, are indicated in Table 1. 

For example, a hazards analysis may identify the chemical acetone. But there is a great deal of difference in the PPE required for a worker exposed to a quart of acetone in a well-ventilated room compared with one who is exposed to a large vat of acetone in an enclosed space. 

When the objective is analytical the products of ozonolysis are isolated and identi lied thereby allowing the structure of the alkene to be deduced In one such example an alkene having the molecular formula C Hig was obtained from a chemical reaction and was then subjected to ozonolysis giving acetone and 2 2 dimethylpropanal as the products... 

The most widely used industrial synthesis of phenol is based on isopropylbenzene (cumene) as the starting material and is shown m the third entry of Table 24 3 The eco nomically attractive features of this process are its use of cheap reagents (oxygen and sulfuric acid) and the fact that it yields two high volume industrial chemicals phenol and acetone The mechanism of this novel synthesis forms the basis of Problem 24 29 at the end of this chapter... 

Acetone cracks to ketene, and may then be converted to anhydride by reaction with acetic acid. This process consumes somewhat less energy and is a popular subject for chemical engineering problems (24,25). The cost of acetone works against widespread appHcation of this process, however. 

World consumption data by end use in 1987 are shown in Table 8 (39). Solvent appHcations account for the largest use of acetone worldwide, followed by production of acetone cyanohydrin for conversion to methacrylates. Aldol chemicals are derivatives of acetone used mainly as solvents (40). 

Eleven large volume consumers in the United States and their products from acetone are Hsted in Table 10 (47). The largest distributors are Ashland Chemical Company, Unocal Chemicals, ChemCentral, Van Waters Rogers, andJLM Industries (47). 

C depending on the reference consulted). Fires may be controlled with carbon dioxide or dry chemical extinguishers. Recommended methods of handlings loadings unloadings and storage can be obtained from Material Safety Data Sheets and inquiries directed to suppHers of acetone. 

Acrylics. Acetone is converted via the intermediate acetone cyanohydrin to the monomer methyl methacrylate (MMA) [80-62-6]. The MMA is polymerized to poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) to make the familiar clear acryUc sheet. PMMA is also used in mol ding and extmsion powders. Hydrolysis of acetone cyanohydrin gives methacrylic acid (MAA), a monomer which goes direcdy into acryUc latexes, carboxylated styrene—butadiene polymers, or ethylene—MAA ionomers. As part of the methacrylic stmcture, acetone is found in the following major end use products acryUc sheet mol ding resins, impact modifiers and processing aids, acryUc film, ABS and polyester resin modifiers, surface coatings, acryUc lacquers, emulsion polymers, petroleum chemicals, and various copolymers (see METHACRYLIC ACID AND DERIVATIVES METHACRYLIC POLYMERS). 

Bisphenol A. One mole of acetone condenses with two moles of phenol to form bisphenol A [80-05-07] which is used mainly in the production of polycarbonate and epoxy resins. Polycarbonates (qv) are high strength plastics used widely in automotive appHcations and appHances, multilayer containers, and housing appHcations. Epoxy resins (qv) are used in fiber-reinforced larninates, for encapsulating electronic components, and in advanced composites for aircraft—aerospace and automotive appHcations. Bisphenol A is also used for the production of corrosion- and chemical-resistant polyester resins, polysulfone resins, polyetherimide resins, and polyarylate resins. 

C. S. Read with T. Gibson and Z. Sedaghat-Pour, "Acetone" in Chemical Economics Handbook, SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif., 1989, p. 604.5000 H. 

Acetone, Eorm No. 115-598-84, product bulletin of The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich., 1984. 

E. Graedel, D. T. Hawkins, and L. D. Cld,si.toQ., Atmospheric Chemical Compounds, Academic Press, Odando, Fla., 1986, p. 263, cited in Hazardous Substances Data Bank, Acetone from Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET), National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Md., Jan. 1990, NATS section in the review. 

Propylene requirements for acrylates remain small compared to other chemical uses (polypropylene, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, 2-propanol, and cumene for acetone and phenol). Hence, cost and availabihty are expected to remain attractive and new acrylate capacity should continue to be propylene-based until after the turn of the century. 

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