Cobalt resinate catalysts

The Smuda process also uses new cracking catalysts based on cobalt resinates which are cobalt salts of resin acids (mainly abietic acid) such as cobalt abietate and cobalt linoleate (these are commonly referred to as driers in the coatings industry) and preferably with admixtures of heavy metal silicates. Smuda has also explored the use of manganese resinate deposited on an aluminium oxide support to maximize active surface area [23]. 

It was first described in 1608 when it was sublimed out of gum benzoin. It also occurs in many other natural resins. Benzoic acid is manufactured by the air oxidation of toluene in the liquid phase at 150°C and 4-6 atm. in the presence of a cobalt catalyst by the partial decarboxylation of phthalic anhydride in either the liquid or vapour phase in the presence of water by the hydrolysis of benzotrichloride (from the chlorination of toluene) in the presence of zinc chloride at 100°C. 

Catalyst Selection. The low resin viscosity and ambient temperature cure systems developed from peroxides have faciUtated the expansion of polyester resins on a commercial scale, using relatively simple fabrication techniques in open molds at ambient temperatures. The dominant catalyst systems used for ambient fabrication processes are based on metal (redox) promoters used in combination with hydroperoxides and peroxides commonly found in commercial MEKP and related perketones (13). Promoters such as styrene-soluble cobalt octoate undergo controlled reduction—oxidation (redox) reactions with MEKP that generate peroxy free radicals to initiate a controlled cross-linking reaction. 

The action of redox metal promoters with MEKP appears to be highly specific. Cobalt salts appear to be a unique component of commercial redox systems, although vanadium appears to provide similar activity with MEKP. Cobalt activity can be supplemented by potassium and 2inc naphthenates in systems requiring low cured resin color lithium and lead naphthenates also act in a similar role. Quaternary ammonium salts (14) and tertiary amines accelerate the reaction rate of redox catalyst systems. The tertiary amines form beneficial complexes with the cobalt promoters, faciUtating the transition to the lower oxidation state. Copper naphthenate exerts a unique influence over cure rate in redox systems and is used widely to delay cure and reduce exotherm development during the cross-linking reaction. 

Eor water-based alkyd paints, greater (0.2% cobalt on a resin basis) concentrations of drier are required than for other systems because the reaction of the drier with water decreases the activity of the catalyst. The cobalt content of oil-based paint formulations is usually 0.01—0.05% cobalt. Although the concentration of cobalt in the formulations is small, the large volume of paints, inks, and varnishes constitute a significant use for cobalt chemicals. 

Cobalt salts are used as activators for catalysts, fuel cells (qv), and batteries. Thermal decomposition of cobalt oxalate is used in the production of cobalt powder. Cobalt compounds have been used as selective absorbers for oxygen, in electrostatographic toners, as fluoridating agents, and in molecular sieves. Cobalt ethyUiexanoate and cobalt naphthenate are used as accelerators with methyl ethyl ketone peroxide for the room temperature cure of polyester resins. 

Early efforts to prepare metal soaps involved attempts to dissolve the natural materials in oils. By the latter part of the nineteenth century, substantial progress had been made in the preparation of fused resinates and linoleates of lead and manganese. The utiUty of cobalt as a drying catalyst was discovered close to the turn of the century, but the factors that led to its ultimate discovery are not recorded. 

While the control resins were deep red in color due to the presence of soluble porphyrin complexes, the methacrylate resins obtained after removal of the polyethylene-supported catalysts varied from light yellow to nearly water-white (APHA < 25). UV-Vis spectrophotometric analysis of the yellow resins indicated an absorption signal for the cobalt porphyrin complex Soret band (wavelength of cobalt(ll) porphyrin species appears at -415 nm free porphyrin ligand is formd at -423 tun). Resin samples that visttally appear as water-white show little or no porphyrin species present in the spectrum. Measured catalyst activity and PDl of the polyethylene-supported porphyrin complexes are in the expected range for soluble porphyrin CCT catalysts (PDl = M /Mn - 1.2- 2.0)." The screening resrrlts clearly... 

We have demonstrated a new class of effective, recoverable thermormorphic CCT catalysts capable of producing colorless methacrylate oligomers with narrow polydispersity and low molecular weight. For controlled radical polymerization of simple alkyl methacrylates, the use of multiple polyethylene tails of moderate molecular weight (700 Da) gave the best balance of color control and catalyst activity. Porphyrin-derived thermomorphic catalysts met the criteria of easy separation from product resin and low catalyst loss per batch, but were too expensive for commercial implementation. However, the polyethylene-supported cobalt phthalocyanine complex is more economically viable due to its greater ease of synthesis. 

PEER polymers can be cured with traditional radical initiators such as methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) peroxides and benzoyl peroxide (BPO). Curing can be carried out either at room temperature or at elevated temperature. A PEER polymer containing 30 % maleic anhydride can be cured at room temperature with MEK peroxides in 10 to 60 min, depending on the type of peroxide used (Table 22.2). To cure a PEER resin with MEK peroxides at room temperature, a co-catalyst is needed. The commonly used cobalt naphthenate works very well in this case, while another co-catalyst, dimethyl aniline, is very efficient for the BPO system. 

Relatively few hydroformylations using supported cobalt complexes have been reported. Moffat (78, 79) showed that poly-2-vinylpyridine reversibly reacted with both Co2(CO) and HCo(CO)4, the cobalt carbonyl being displaced by excess carbon monoxide. This enabled the polymer to pick up the cobalt carbonyl at the end of the reaction and, thus, allowed it to be separated from the products by filtration. The polymer acted as a catalyst reservoir by rapidly releasing the cobalt carbonyl into solution in the presence of further carbon monoxide, so that the actual catalysis was a homogeneous process. More recently, cobalt carbonyl has been irreversibly bound to a polystyrene resin... 

The binder itself (Genpol A-20 polyester resin, styrene and methyl acrylate) was combined with the necessary polymerization catalyst (methyl ethyl ketone peroxide) and an accelerator (cobalt octoate or naphthenate). 

Fig. 6. Influence of catalyst systems on cure rate effect of dimethylaniline (DMA) on cure rate of cast polymer resin at 25°C. Initiator system contains cobalt naphthenate (0.5%), MEKP (1.0%), and one of the following A, DMA (0.0%) B, DMA (0.05%) or C, DMA (0.1%).

A number of simple and inexpensive materials catalytically promote the cobalt-carbonylation (Reaction 2) in aqueous solution. These include ion-exchange resins, zeolites, or special types of activated carbon. Formation of the active catalyst in a separate reactor is thus economically feasible. The mechanism of this catalysis has not yet been elucidated and seems to differ for each promoter mentioned. After an induction period during which the cobalt fed to the reactor is partially retained by the promoter, fully active materials have absorbed cobalt carbonyl anion Co(CO)4 (ion exchange resins), Co2+ cation (zeolites), or a mixture of Co2+, cobalt carbonyl hydride, and cluster-type cobalt carbonyls (activated carbon). This can be shown by analytical studies (extraction, titration, and IR studies) of active material withdrawn from the reactor. 

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