Dehydrogenation to phenol

Phenol Vi Cyclohexene. In 1989 Mitsui Petrochemicals developed a process in which phenol was produced from cyclohexene. In this process, benzene is partially hydrogenated to cyclohexene in the presence of water and a mthenium-containing catalyst. The cyclohexene then reacts with water to form cyclohexanol or oxygen to form cyclohexanone. The cyclohexanol or cyclohexanone is then dehydrogenated to phenol. No phenol plants have been built employing this process. 

Halcon (1) Halcon International (later The Halcon SD Group) designed many organic chemical processes, but is perhaps best known for its process for making phenol from cyclohexane. Cyclohexane is first oxidized to cyclohexanol, using air as the oxidant and boric acid as the catalyst, and this is then dehydrogenated to phenol. Invented in 1961 by S. N. Fox and J. W. Colton, it was operated by Monsanto in Australia for several years. 

Two other, more recently popular routes are shown in Figure 7—6. In the first, benzene is hydrogenated to cyclohexane, followed by a partial oxidation to cyclohexanol. The cyclohexanol is then dehydrogenated to phenol. 

For example, 1,4-addition of the acetone carbanion to acrolein would be a facile reaction under the reaction conditions used for cellulose liquefaction (both of these intermediates are formed from cellulose). The product, 5-ketohexanal, could cyclize to 3-hydroxycyclohexanone, which would then dehydrate and dehydrogenate to phenol and related aromatic products. This route to an observed product (phenol) is still speculative, but we have shown the more direct route to phenol from cyclohexanone does not occur under the... 

The phenol process based on the oxidation of cyclohexane has been operated for a short time by Monsanto in Australia and is of less importance. In this process, a mixture of cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol is dehydrogenated to phenol at 400 °C, using platinum/activated carbon or nickel/cobalt catalysts. The degree of conversion can reach 90 5%. The crude phenol is refined by distillation. A particular disadvantage of this process lies in the difficulty in refining the crude oxidation mixture from cyclohexane oxidation. 

C, b.p. 16UC. Manufactured by heating phenol with hydrogen under pressure in the presence of suitable catalysts. Oxidized to adipic acid (main use as intermediate for nylon production) dehydrogenated to cyclohexanone. 

This chapter compares the reaction of gas-phase methylation of phenol with methanol in basic and in acid catalysis, with the aim of investigating how the transformations occurring on methanol affect the catalytic performance and the reaction mechanism. It is proposed that with the basic catalyst, Mg/Fe/0, the tme alkylating agent is formaldehyde, obtained by dehydrogenation of methanol. Formaldehyde reacts with phenol to yield salicyl alcohol, which rapidly dehydrogenates to salicyladehyde. The latter was isolated in tests made by feeding directly a formalin/phenol aqueous solution. Salicylaldehyde then transforms to o-cresol, the main product of the basic-catalyzed methylation of phenol, likely by means of an intramolecular H-transfer with formaldehyde. With an acid catalyst, H-mordenite, the main products were anisole and cresols moreover, methanol was transformed to alkylaromatics. 

According to a general rule, not only dihydric phenols, but also those diamines of the p-series which still contain one hydrogen atom attached to each nitrogen, are dehydrogenated to quinone or quinonediimine with great ease. Hence in the oxidation solution emeraldine is also immediately converted into the doubly quinonoid chain... 

Ketones.have the characteristic -C- signature group imbedded in them. Acetone, CH3COCH3, comes from two different routes. It is a by-product in the cumene to phenol/acetone process. It is the on-purpose product of the catalytic dehydrogenation of isopropyl alcohol. Acetone is popular as a solvent and as a chemical intermediate for the manufacture of MIBK, methyl methacrylate, and Bisphenol A. 

In addition to the epoxidation of olefins, zeolitic materials have been studied for other fine chemical transformations. Table 12.21 indexes the zeolites used for oxidative dehydrogenation of propane, direct hydroxylation of benzene to phenol and e-caprolactam synthesis. A recent review summarizes other reactions for which there is not enough space in the table [138, 139]. 

The important derivatives of benzene are shown in Table 8.8. Ethylbenzene is made from ethylene and benzene and then dehydrogenated to styrene, which is polymerized for various plastics applications. Cumene is manufactured from propylene and benzene and then made into phenol and acetone. Cyclohexane, a starting material for some nylon, is made by hydrogenation of benzene. Nitration of benzene followed by reduction gives... 

Ebel s method is an adaptation of the Stoermer synthesis of benzo-[h]furans and involves the 0-alkylation of a phenolate anion (229, Scheme 58) with a 2-halocyclohexanone (230). The resultant 2-phenoxycyclo-hexanone 231 is then cyclized by poly phosphoric acid, usually at 100°C, or sometimes by concentrated sulfuric acid, to afford a 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrodi-benzofuran (232). Dehydrogenation to the dibenzofuran is often effected with palladized charcoal, but 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-l,4-benzoquinone ... 

The reaction of phenols with alicyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds in phosphorus oxychloride or sulfuric acid also leads to 3,4-fused coumarins (40JA2405). Dehydrogenation to the dibenzopyranone occurs on heating with sulfur or with palladium-charcoal (73CB62). 

The most likely lignin condensation reaction during the kraft cook is the formation of diphenylmethane structures 29, 30). These structures are also proposed 14) as being already present in native lignin. Phenolic diphenylmethanes do not exhibit any color, but they can easily be dehydrogenated to quinonemethides 20, 23) or quinonemethide radicals (P). 

Another alternative (Scheme B) would be that an intermediate quinonemethide (e.g. XXV) dehydrogenates an easily oxidizable species, such as dihydroxydiphenylmethane, catechol, or />,p -dihydroxystilbene. The dehydrogenation of phenolic diphenylmethanes to highly colored quinonemethides has been reported by Harkin 20) and Rothenberg and Luner 37). The resulting ionized quinonemethide XXVII is likely to be quite stable because of the resonance stabilization. 

The base promotes the formation of a phenolate ion, which undergoes a one-electron oxidation to form Cu(I) and a phenoxy radical. Two of these radicals combine to give the 4,4/-dihydroxybiphenyl compound, which can be further dehydrogenated to give the diphenoquinone. Within the detection limit of atomic absorption spectroscopy no Cu was observed in solution. Cu retention on the molecular sieve in this case is favored by the apolarity of the solvent, the absence of competing anions (e.g., acetate in solution), and the presence of base, with the latter promoting formation of copper hydroxides. 

The three phenolic furoquinoline alkaloids robustine (18), haplopine (1 R = H, R2 = OH, R3 = OMe), and confusameline (1 R1 = R3 = H, R2 = OH), which were synthesized some time ago (see Vols. 3 and 5), have now been prepared by a modification of the Grundon-McCorkindale method, as illustrated for robustine (Scheme 3).22 Polyphosphate ester was found to be more effective than poly-phosphoric acid for cyclization of the alcohol (17) to the dihydrofuran (19). Dehydrogenation to a furoquinoline was accomplished by reaction of the benzyl ether of dihydrofuran (19) with DDQ. 

Platonov and co-workers have made a significant contribution to the study of alcohol dehydrogenation by means of rhenium catalysts (310). Rhenium disulfide was found to be efficient in promoting dehydrogenation of alcohols to aldehydes or ketones (acetone), and in the dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol to phenol and a small amount of cyclohexanone (308),... 

The benzene-derived petrochemicals in Figure 4.15 are intermediate feedstocks for styrenic and phenolic plastics. In the styrenics chain, ethylbenzene is dehydrogenated to styrene, to be used as polystyrene monomer or as a copolymer with acrylonitrile and butadiene. In the phenolics chain, cumene is an intermediate for making phenol. Bisphenol A is the condensation product of two moles of phenol and acetone. Phenol and Bisphenol A are used to manufacture resins and polycarbonates. Phenol and cyclohexane are the starting materials for the manufacture of nylon 6. 

Dehydrogenation to give the corresponding arylated phenols has so far not been reported, but this should be possible using established routes. 

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