Dealkylation

FIGURE 13.6 Metabolic dealkylation reaction for the removal of CHj from N, O, and S atoms in organic 

Addition of OH to aromatic rings or aliphatic gronps makes these componnds less toxic. For example, replacement of H by OH can inactivate organic compounds such as 2,4-D  

Many aromatic organics, such as phenoxyalkanoate herbicides, contain fatty acid side chains that can be metabolized by (3-oxidation. (3-Oxidation proceeds by the stepwise cleavage of two-carbon fragments from a fatty acid. The short-chain fatty acid is further decomposed until the chain length is four or two carbons. 

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Benzene was first isolated by Faraday in 1825 from the liquid condensed by compressing oil gas. It is the lightest fraction obtained from the distillation of the coal-tar hydrocarbons, but most benzene is now manufactured from suitable petroleum fractions by dehydrogenation (54%) and dealkylation processes. Its principal industrial use is as a starting point for other chemicals, particularly ethylbenzene, cumene, cyclohexane, styrene (45%), phenol (20%), and Nylon (17%) precursors. U.S. production 1979 2-6 B gals. 

It is produced from petroleum fractions rich in naphthenes by catalytic reforming in the presence of hydrogen (hydroforming) in this process dehydrogenation .nd dealkylation... 

It has already been mentioned that the degradation of s-triazine herbicides such as atrazinc in soil can be described by two reaction types only, hydrolysis and reductive dealkylation (see Figure 10.3-8). Application oF these two reaction types to a specific s-triazinc compound such as atrazinc provides the reaction network shown in Figure 10,3-12. This can also be vcriFicd by running this example on h ttp //www2,chemie,uni-erlangen.de/semces/eros/,... 

Deall lation, Transall lation, and Disproportionation. The action of aluminum chloride also removes alkyl groups from alkylbenzenes (dealkylation, disproportionation) (12). Alkylbenzenes, when heated with AlCl, form mixtures of benzene and polyalkylated benzenes ... 

Cyclic Hydrocarbons. The cyclic hydrocarbon intermediates are derived principally from petroleum and natural gas, though small amounts are derived from coal. Most cycHc intermediates are used in the manufacture of more advanced synthetic organic chemicals and finished products such as dyes, medicinal chemicals, elastomers, pesticides, and plastics and resins. Table 6 details the production and sales of cycHc intermediates in 1991. Benzene (qv) is the largest volume aromatic compound used in the chemical industry. It is extracted from catalytic reformates in refineries, and is produced by the dealkylation of toluene (qv) (see also BTX Processing). 

Methyl- and dimethylnaphthalenes are contained in coke-oven tar and in certain petroleum fractions in significant amounts. A typical high temperature coke-oven coal tar, for example, contains ca 3 wt % of combined methyl- and dimethylnaphthalenes (6). In the United States, separation of individual isomers is seldom attempted instead a methylnaphtha1 ene-rich fraction is produced for commercial purposes. Such mixtures are used for solvents for pesticides, sulfur, and various aromatic compounds. They also can be used as low freezing, stable heat-transfer fluids. Mixtures that are rich in monomethyinaphthalene content have been used as dye carriers (qv) for color intensification in the dyeing of synthetic fibers, eg, polyester. They also are used as the feedstock to make naphthalene in dealkylation processes. PhthaUc anhydride also can be made from m ethyl n aph th al en e mixtures by an oxidation process that is similar to that used for naphthalene. 

Biotransformation reactions can be classified as phase 1 and phase 11. In phase 1 reactions, dmgs are converted to product by processes of functionalization, including oxidation, reduction, dealkylation, and hydrolysis. Phase 11 or synthetic reactions involve coupling the dmg or its polar metaboHte to endogenous substrates and include methylation, acetylation, and glucuronidation (Table 1). 

The design of these distillation systems and the operating conditions used depend on the physical properties of the alkylphenols involved and on the product requirements. Essentially all alkylphenol distillation systems operate under vacuum, but the actual pressures maintained vary considerably. Vacuum operation allows reasonable reboder temperatures (200—350°C) so that thermal dealkylation reactions of the alkylphenols are slow. 

Oxidative Reactions. The majority of pesticides, or pesticide products, are susceptible to some form of attack by oxidative enzymes. For more persistent pesticides, oxidation is frequently the primary mode of metaboHsm, although there are important exceptions, eg, DDT. For less persistent pesticides, oxidation may play a relatively minor role, or be the first reaction ia a metaboHc pathway. Oxidation generally results ia degradation of the parent molecule. However, attack by certain oxidative enzymes (phenol oxidases) can result ia the condensation or polymerization of the parent molecules this phenomenon is referred to as oxidative coupling (16). Examples of some important oxidative reactions are ether cleavage, alkyl-hydroxylation, aryl-hydroxylation, AJ-dealkylation, and sulfoxidation. 

H-Dealkylation. This is commonly observed as a primary transformation of pesticides with A/-alkyl substituents, such as atrazine [1912-24-9] (3) (eq. 5), trifluraHn [1582-09-8] (4) (eq. 6) (16), and 3 -ethyl dipropylthiocarbamate [759-94-4] (EPTC) (5) (eq. 7) (18). These reactions are catalyzed by a variety of bacterial strains, including Noeardia, Pseudomonas, Phodococcus, and Streptomyces. 

The feedstock is usually extracted toluene, but some reformers are operated under sufftciendy severe conditions or with selected feedstocks to provide toluene pure enough to be fed directiy to the dealkylation unit without extraction. In addition to toluene, xylenes can also be fed to a dealkylation unit to produce benzene. Table 20 Hsts the producers and their capacities for manufacture of benzene by hydrodealkylation of toluene. Additional information on hydrodealkylation is available in References 50 and 52. 

Petroleum-derived benzene is commercially produced by reforming and separation, thermal or catalytic dealkylation of toluene, and disproportionation. Benzene is also obtained from pyrolysis gasoline formed ia the steam cracking of olefins (35). 

A typical catalytic hydrodealkylation scheme is shown ia Figure 3 (49). The most common feedstock is toluene, but xylenes can also be used. Recent studies have demonstrated that and heavier monoaromatics produce benzene ia a conventional hydrodealkylation unit ia yields comparable to that of toluene (51). The use of feeds containing up to 100% of C —aromatics iacreases the flexibiUty of the hydrodealkylation procedure which is sensitive to the price differential of benzene and toluene. When toluene is ia demand, benzene suppHes can be maintained from dealkylation of heavy feedstocks. 

Biphenyl has been produced commercially in the United States since 1926, mainly by The Dow Chemical Co., Monsanto Co., and Sun Oil Co. Currently, Dow, Monsanto, and Koch Chemical Co. are the principal biphenyl producers, with lesser amounts coming from Sybron Corp. and Chemol, Inc. With the exception of Monsanto, the above suppHers recover biphenyl from high boiler fractions that accompany the hydrodealkylation of toluene [108-88-3] to benzene (6). Hydrodealkylation of alkylbenzenes, usually toluene, C Hg, is an important source of benzene, C H, in the United States. Numerous hydrodealkylation (HDA) processes have been developed. Most have the common feature that toluene or other alkylbenzene plus hydrogen is passed under pressure through a tubular reactor at high temperature (34). Methane and benzene are the principal products formed. Dealkylation conditions are sufficiently severe to cause some dehydrocondensation of benzene and toluene molecules. 

The molecular weight distribution of the feed affects the distribution of the product. If the naphtha is concentrated in the C -Cg range, more benzene and toluene are found in the product. If the feed is weighted to Cg—C q, more xylenes and higher aromatics are found. Some carbon number "shppage" occurs by dealkylation some C s form benzene by losing a methyl group, some CgS form toluene, etc. 

Extractive distillation, using similar solvents to those used in extraction, may be employed to recover aromatics from reformates which have been prefractionated to a narrow boiling range. Extractive distillation is also used to recover a mixed ben2ene—toluene stream from which high quaUty benzene can be produced by postfractionation in this case, the toluene product is less pure, but is stiU acceptable as a feedstock for dealkylation or gasoline blending. Extractive distillation processes for aromatics recovery include those Hsted in Table 4. 

There are many variations of the basic processing loop shown in Figure 8. Processing to produce only BT is common, often in conjunction with a toluene-to-benzene dealkylation unit. If benzene and toluene ate not to be recovered. Column B may be used to remove toluene and lighter components. 

Deall lation. Chloroformates such as vinyl chloroformates (40) are used to dealkylate tertiary amines. Chloroformates are superior to the typical Von Braun reagent, cyanogen bromide, because of increased selectivity producing cleaner products. Other chloroformates such as aHyl, methyl, phenyl, and trichloroethyl have also been used in dealkylation reactions. Although the dealkylation reaction using chloroformates is mostiy carried out on tertiary amines, dealkylation of oxygen or sulfur centers, ie, ethers or thioethers, can also be achieved. a-Chloroethyl chloroformate [50893-53-3] (ACE-Cl) (41,42) is superior to all previously used chloroformates for the dealkylation reaction. ACE-Cl has the advantage that the conditions requked for ACE... 

Disopyr mide. Disopyramide phosphate, a phenylacetamide analogue, is a racemic mixture. The dmg can be adininistered po or iv and is useful in the treatment of ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias (1,2). After po administration, absorption is rapid and nearly complete (83%). Binding to plasma protein is concentration-dependent (35—95%), but at therapeutic concentrations of 2—4 lg/mL, about 50% is protein-bound. Peak plasma concentrations are achieved in 0.5—3 h. The dmg is metabolized in the fiver to a mono-AJ-dealkylated product that has antiarrhythmic activity. The elimination half-life of the dmg is 4—10 h. About 80% of the dose is excreted by the kidneys, 50% is unchanged and 50% as metabolites 15% is excreted into the bile (1,2). 

Elecainide is weU absorbed and 90% of the po dose is bioavailable. Binding to plasma protein is only 40% and peak plasma concentrations are attained in about 1—6 h. Three to five days may be requited to attain steady-state plasma concentrations when multiple doses are used. Therapeutic plasma concentrations are 0.2—1.0 lg/mL. Elecainide has an elimination half-life of 12—27 h, allowing twice a day dosing. The plasma half-life is increased in patients with renal failure or low cardiac outputs. About 70% of the flecainide in plasma is metabolized by the Hver to two principal metaboUtes. The antiarrhythmic potency of the meta-O-dealkylated metaboUte and the meta-O-dealkylated lactam, relative to that of flecainide is 50 and 10%, respectively. The plasma concentrations of the two metaboUtes relative to that of flecainide are 3—25%. Elecainide is mainly excreted by the kidneys, 30% unchanged, the rest as metaboUtes or conjugates about 5% is excreted in the feces (1,2). 

Dichlorotoluene (l,3-dichloro-2-methylben2ene) is prepared from the Sandmeyer reaction on 2-arnino-6-chlorotoluene. Other methods include ring chlorination of -toluenesulfonyl chloride followed by desulfonylation (81), and chlorination and dealkylation of 4-/ f2 -butyltoluene (82) or... 

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