Cyclic Oligomers of Butadiene

Butadiene could be oligomerized to cyclic dienes and trienes using certain transition metal complexes. Commercially, a mixture of TiCU and Al2Cl3(C2H5)3 is used that gives predominantly cis, trans, trans-1,5,9-cyclododecatriene along with approximately 5% of the dimer 1,5-cyclooctadiene  

9-Cyclododecatriene is a precursor for dodecane-dioic acid through a hydrogenation step followed hy oxidation. The diacid is a monomer for the production of nylon 6/12. 

Cyclododecane from cyclododecatriene may also he converted to the Ci2 lactam, which is polymerized to nylon 12. 

Stinson, S., New Rhenium Catalyst for Olefin Chemistry, Chemical and Engineering News, Vol. 70, No. 6, 1992, p. 29. 

Patton, P. A. and McCarthy, T. J., Running the Impossible Reaction, Metathesis of Cyclohexene, CHEMTECH, July 1987, pp. 442-446. 

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