Cyclohexanone Beckmann rearrangement

Beckmann rearrangement of cvc7ohexanone oxime. M.p. 68-70 C, b.p. I39 C/12 mm. On healing it gives polyamides. Used in the manufacture of Nylon[6]. Cyclohexanone oxime is formed from cyclohexane and niirosyl chloride. U.S. production 1978 410 000 tonnes, capryl alcohol See 2-octanol. caiH Uc acid See oclanoic acid. 

Ingredients. Nylon-6 is produced commercially from caprolactam [105-60-2] which is the most important lactam industrially. AH industrial production processes for caprolactam are multistep and produce ammonium sulfate [7783-20-2] or other by-products. Approximately 95% of the world s caprolactam is produced from cyclohexanone oxime [100-64-1] via the Beckmann rearrangement (144). The starting material for cyclohexanone can be... 

Cyclohexanone oxime is converted quantitatively to caprolactam by Beckmann rearrangement in the presence of oleum, which is of sufficient strength to consume the several percent water in the molten oxime. The reaction mass is neutralized with aqueous ammonia to a cmde caprolactam layer and a saturated solution of ammonium sulfate. Approximately 1.5 kg of the total 4.4 kg ammonium sulfate per kilogram of caprolactam is produced in this step. Purification is by multistage vacuum crystallization from aqueous solution in neatly quantitative yield. 

Toray. The photonitrosation of cyclohexane or PNC process results in the direct conversion of cyclohexane to cyclohexanone oxime hydrochloride by reaction with nitrosyl chloride in the presence of uv light (15) (see Photochemical technology). Beckmann rearrangement of the cyclohexanone oxime hydrochloride in oleum results in the evolution of HCl, which is recycled to form NOCl by reaction with nitrosylsulfuric acid. The latter is produced by conventional absorption of NO from ammonia oxidation in oleum. Neutralization of the rearrangement mass with ammonia yields 1.7 kg ammonium sulfate per kilogram of caprolactam. Purification is by vacuum distillation. The novel chemistry is as follows ... 

The conversion of cyclohexanone to cyclohexanone oxime is brought about by the use of hydroxylamine sulphate. The sulphuric acid is neutralised with ammonia to ammonium sulphate and this is separated from the oxime. In the presence of oleum the oxime undergoes the process known as the Beckmann rearrangement to yield the crude caprolactam. After further neutralisation with ammonia the caprolactam and further ammonium sulphate are separated by solvent extraction (Figure 18.7). 

The stereochemical use of the Beckmann rearrangement in assigning configuration to ketoximes has already been referred to, and it also has a large-scale application in the synthesis of the textile polymer Nylon-6 from cyclohexanone oxime (78) via the cyclic amide (lactam, 79) ... 

Fe3+, La3+ and Ce3+ ion-exchanged MAPO-36 was prepared by wet ion-exchange method. The materials were characterized by XRD, TGA and TPD (ammonia). Lewis acid metal ions are suggested to remain as charge compensating MO+ species after calcination in ion-exchanged MAPO-36. Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime was studied over these catalysts in the vapour phase. 

Beckmann rearrangement of oxime is an acid catalysed reaction. The environmental problems associated with the use of sulphuric acid instigated interest to use number of solid acid catalysts [1], There are only scanty references about Lewis acid ion-exchanged MeAlPOs. Beyer et al. [2], Mihalyi et al. [3] and Mavrodinova et al. [4] already suggested the presence of Lewis acid metal ions as MO+ species in zeolites. The present study focussed the synthesis and characterisation of Fe3+, La3+ and Ce3+ ion-exchanged MAPO-36. The catalytic results of Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime over ion-exchanged catalysts are delineated in this article. 

Zeolites have also been described as efficient catalysts for acylation,11 for the preparation of acetals,12 and proved to be useful for acetal hydrolysis13 or intramolecular lactonization of hydroxyalkanoic acids,14 to name a few examples of their application. A number of isomerizations and skeletal rearrangements promoted by these porous materials have also been reported. From these, we can underline two important industrial processes such as the isomerization of xylenes,2 and the Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime to e-caprolactam,15 which is an intermediate for polyamide manufacture. Other applications include the conversion of n-butane to isobutane,16 Fries rearrangement of phenyl esters,17 or the rearrangement of epoxides to carbonyl compounds.18... 

The transformation of oximes to lactams (the Beckmann rearrangement) was one of the earliest such acid-catalyzed reactions to be reported with TS-1 (138) and TS-2 (247) catalysts. The rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime to e-caprolactam proceeds with high selectivity in the presence of TS-1, with high catalyst stability (138,247). 

It can be obtained from cyclohexane. Cyclohexane is air oxidised to yield a mixture of cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone. Cyclohexanol is dehydrogenated to cyclohexanone over copper catalyst. Cyclohexanone when treated with hydroxylamine sulphate at 20°-95°C gives an oxime. The oxime when treated with concentrated sulphuric acid undergoes Beckmann rearrangement to yield caprolactam. 

The common name caprolactam comes from the original name for the Ce carboxylic acid, caproic acid. Caprolactam is the cyclic amide (lactam) of 6-aminocaproic acid. Its manufacture is from cyclohexanone, made usually from cyclohexane (58%), but also available from phenol (42%). Some of the cyclohexanol in cyclohexanone/cyclohexanol mixtures can be converted to cyclohexanone by a ZnO catalyst at 400°C. Then the cyclohexanone is converted into the oxime with hydroxylamine. The oxime undergoes a very famous acid-catalyzed reaction called the Beckmann rearrangement to give caprolactam. Sulfuric acid at 100-120°C is common but phosphoric acid is also used, since after treatment with ammonia the by-product becomes... 

Organoaluminum-promoted Beckmann rearrangement/methylation of cyclohexanone oxime mesylate, followed by allylation of ketimine 40a and Mannich cyclization of the intermediate iminium-allylsilane, provides piperidine 40b possessing cxo-unsaturation (08BKC1669). 

Perhaps the most notable application of the Beckmann rearrangement is in the industrial production of 8-caprolactam from cyclohexanone (or its oxime), which is used as monomer for the polymerization to a polyamide for the production of synthetic fibres (for example, nylon 6). Furthermore, Beckmann rearrangement provides a facile route for the... 

The Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime catalysed by solid metaboric acid (286) has also been investigated (equation 94). When ketoximes, mixed with 286 (formed from boric acid at 100°C/0.1 Torr), are heated (140°C/7-42 h) the corresponding amides or lactams are produced in excellent yields (62-92%). Under the... 

To explain the difficulties encountered in the reuse of sulfonyl chloride functionalized ionic liquids during Beckmann rearrangement, Deng and colleagues proposed a mechanism for rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime (equation 97). 

The classical production of e-caprolactam is based on cyclohexanone oxime and on its Beckmann rearrangement. For this step, aU manufacmrers use fuming sulfuric acid or oleum, sometimes enriched with more sulfur trioxide than present anyway in the oleum, to increase the rate of the rearrangement process. 

There is extensive research ongoing for new synthesis processes which are economically favourable due to less expensive reactants or easier processes. One very important point is the avoidance of the production of a large amount of ammonium sulfate, which can be achieved by the prevention of the formation of any salt or by the replacement of ammonium sulfate by another ammonium salt with increased economical value. Recently, studies of Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime in friendly enviionment conditions have received special attention . ... 

The industrial e-caprolactam processes with cyclohexanone oxime as intermediate product were recently reviewed . The catalytic gas-phase Beckmann rearrangement has great industrial interest. Since the process proposed by DuPont in 1938 the investigation on catalytic gas-phase Beckmann rearrangement has been investigated, and a large variety of catalysts have been tested for the reaction. 

The reactor systems were also improved, concerning the Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime and the production of the unwanted ammonium salts ", by-products and contaminants" ". 

Recently, the Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. developed the vapour-phase Beckmann rearrangement process for the production of 8-caprolactam. In the process, cyclohexanone oxime is rearranged to e-caprolactam by using a zeolite as a catalyst instead of sulfuric acid. EniChem in Italy developed the ammoximation process that involves the direct production of cyclohexanone oxime without producing any ammonium sulfate. The Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. commercialized the combined process of vapour-phase Beckmann rearrangement and ammoximation in 2003 ". 

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