Disproportionations, catalytic

Disproportionation reaction rates depend on carbenium ion reactivities, which are determined by catalyst site acid strength. Carbenium ions produced at strong acid sites are less likely to undergo P-scission or desorption. Compared with HY, the smaller pores in HZSM-5 inhibit bimolecular disproportionation reactions. In contrast, the low paraf-fin/olefin volatile product ratio for the PE-MCM-41 sample is likely due to the low acidity of the catalyst. Although the MCM-41 pore size is large enough to facilitate disproportionation, catalytic site acidity is too low for this reaction pathway to be dominant. 

Toluene disproportionation (TDP) is a catalytic process in which 2 moles of toluene are converted to 1 mole of xylene and 1 mole of benzene this process is discussed in greater detail herein. Although the mixed xylenes from TDP are generally more cosdy to produce than those from catalytic reformate or pyrolysis gasoline, thek principal advantage is that they are very pure and contain essentially no EB. 

A breakdown of the mixed xylene supply sources in the United States is summarized in Table 1 (1). As shown in Table 1, the primary source of xylenes in the United States is catalytic reformate. In 1992, over 90% of the isolated xylenes in the United States were derived from this source. Approximately 9% of the recovered xylenes is produced via toluene disproportionation (TDP). In the United States, only negligible amounts of the xylenes are recovered from pyrolysis gasoline and coke oven light oil. In other parts of the world, pyrolysis gasoline is a more important source of xylenes. 

Xylenes Produetion Via Toluene Transalkylation and Disproportionation. The toluene that is produced from processes such as catalytic reforming can be converted into xylenes via transalkylation and disproportionation. Toluene disproportionation is defined as the reaction of 2 mol of toluene to produce 1 mol of xylene and 1 mol of benzene. Toluene transalkylation is defined as the reaction of toluene with or higher aromatics to produce xylenes ... 

Catalysis. As of mid-1995, zeoHte-based catalysts are employed in catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, isomerization of paraffins and substituted aromatics, disproportionation and alkylation of aromatics, dewaxing of distillate fuels and lube basestocks, and in a process for converting methanol to hydrocarbons (54). 

Xylenes. The main appHcation of xylene isomers, primarily p- and 0-xylenes, is in the manufacture of plasticizers and polyester fibers and resins. Demands for xylene isomers and other aromatics such as benzene have steadily been increasing over the last two decades. The major source of xylenes is the catalytic reforming of naphtha and the pyrolysis of naphtha and gas oils. A significant amount of toluene and Cg aromatics, which have lower petrochemical value, is also produced by these processes. More valuable p- or 0-xylene isomers can be manufactured from these low value aromatics in a process complex consisting of transalkylation, eg, the Tatoray process and Mobil s toluene disproportionation (M lDP) and selective toluene disproportionation (MSTDP) processes isomerization, eg, the UOP Isomar process (88) and Mobil s high temperature isomerization (MHTI), low pressure isomerization (MLPI), and vapor-phase isomerization (MVPI) processes (89) and xylene isomer separation, eg, the UOP Parex process (90). 

Other. Ethylene can be produced by steam cocracking of propylene with ethane and propane. Ethylene and butenes can also be produced by catalytic disproportionation of propylene (108). 

Table 9 is a summary of world toluene supply and demand for 1996. North America, Asia, and Western Europe dominated the world s toluene business ia 1996. The three regions together accounted for over 85% of world production, imports, exports, and actual consumption, respectively. North America led ia production and consumption, while Asia led ia imports and exports. Table 10 presents the world toluene supply and demand. The worldwide demand for toluene increased by 7% from 1993 to 1994 and from 1994 to 1995, consecutively, because of higher hydrodealkylation (HDA) and disproportionation (TDP) operations, plus strong demand for all other derivatives. Over 70% of toluene is derived from a single source, catalytic reformate. 

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). 

After the cmde BTX is formed, by reforming in this case, a heart cut is sent to extraction. Actually, the xylenes and heavier components are often sent to downstream processes without extraction. The toluene produced is converted to ben2ene, a more valuable petrochemical, by mnning it through a hydrodealkylation unit. This catalytic unit operates at 540—810°C with an excess of hydrogen. Another option is to disproportionate toluene or toluene plus aromatics to a mixture of ben2ene and xylenes using a process such as UOP s Tatoray or Mobil s Selective Toluene Disproportionation Process (STDP) (36). 

Another example of catalytic isomerization is the Mobil Vapor-Phase Isomerization process, in which -xylene is separated from an equiHbrium mixture of Cg aromatics obtained by isomerization of mixed xylenes and ethylbenzene. To keep xylene losses low, this process uses a ZSM-5-supported noble metal catalyst over which the rate of transalkylation of ethylbenzene is two orders of magnitude larger than that of xylene disproportionation (12). 

Pyrolysis Thermal decomposition of 1,1,1,2-tetrachloroethane produces tetrachloroethylene (by disproportionation), hydrogen chloride, and trichloroethylene via dehydrochlorination (111). The yield of the latter is increased in the presence of ferric chloride (112). Other catalytic materials include FeCl —KCl mixture (113), AlCl (6), the complex of AlCl with nitrobenzene (114), activated alumina (3), Ca(OH)2 (115,116), and NaCl (94). 

Although ethylene is produced by various methods as follows, only a few are commercially proven thermal cracking of hydrocarbons, catalytic pyrolysis, membrane dehydrogenation of ethane, oxydehydrogenation of ethane, oxidative coupling of methane, methanol to ethylene, dehydration of ethanol, ethylene from coal, disproportionation of propylene, and ethylene as a by-product. 

Nitric oxide is the simplest thermally stable odd-electron molecule known and, accordingly, its electronic structure and reaction chemistry have been very extensively studied. The compound is an intermediate in the production of nitric acid and is prepared industrially by the catalytic oxidation of ammonia (p. 466). On the laboratory scale it can be synthesized from aqueous solution by the mild reduction of acidified nitrites with iodide or ferrocyanide or by the disproportionation of nitrous acid in the presence of dilute sulfuric acid ... 

The synthetic utility of the alkene metathesis reaction may in some cases be limited because of the formation of a mixture of products. The steps of the catalytic cycle are equilibrium processes, with the yields being determined by the thermodynamic equilibrium. The metathesis process generally tends to give complex mixtures of products. For example, pent-2-ene 8 disproportionates to give, at equilibrium, a statistical mixture of but-2-enes, pent-2-enes and hex-3-enes ... 

Olefins could he catalytically converted into shorter and longer-chain olefins through a catalytic disproportionation reaction. For example, propylene could he disproportionated over different catalysts, yielding ethylene and butylenes. Approximate reaction conditions are 400°C and 8 atmospheres ... 

The catalytic disproportionation of toluene (Figure 10-13) in the presence of hydrogen produces henzene and a xylene mixture. Disproportionation is an equilihrium reaction with a 58% conversion per pass theoretically possible. The reverse reaction is the transalkylation of xylenes with henzene ... 

The most important side reactions are disproportionation between the cobalt(ll) complex and the propagating species and/or -elimination of an alkcnc from the cobalt(III) intermediate. Both pathways appear unimportant in the case of acrylate ester polymerizations mediated by ConTMP but are of major importance with methacrylate esters and S. This chemistry, while precluding living polymerization, has led to the development of cobalt complexes for use in catalytic chain transfer (Section 6.2.5). 

As described in the previous section, the silica-alumina catalyst covered with the silicalite membrane showed exceUent p-xylene selectivity in disproportionation of toluene [37] at the expense of activity, because the thickness of the sihcahte-1 membrane was large (40 pm), limiting the diffusion of the products. In addition, the catalytic activity of silica-alumina was not so high. To solve these problems, Miyamoto et al. [41 -43] have developed a novel composite zeohte catalyst consisting of a zeolite crystal with an inactive thin layer. In Miyamoto s study [41], a sihcahte-1 layer was grown on proton-exchanged ZSM-5 crystals (silicalite/H-ZSM-5) [42]. The silicalite/H-ZSM-5 catalysts showed excellent para-selectivity of >99.9%, compared to the 63.1% for the uncoated sample, and independent of the toluene conversion. 

Apart from this mechanistic hypothesis, another scenario, with a ferrate complex as intermediate, may be possible. In 1928, Hieber discovered that Fe(CO)5 78 underwent a disproportionation in the presence of ethylenediamine 122 [97-101]. Depending on the reaction temperature, different ferrate complexes were formed that incorporated a [Fe(en)3] cation (en = ethylenediamine) and mono-, di- or trinuclear ferrate anions (Scheme 32) [102-107]. As the reaction discussed above is also performed with amines at high temperatures, these ferrates may well be involved in the catalytic cycle of the carbonylation discussed above. 

Similar disproportionation is likely to occur during catalytic hydrocarbon oxidation since the Bl2Mo20g catalyst is subjected to continuous redox cycling under such conditions. Therefore, any kinetic or catalytic information about Bi2Mo20n is suspect unless the absence of surface restructuring can be confirmed. 

These metalloporphyrins are unique among Fe and Co porphyrins in their high catalytic efficiency of electroreduction of H2O2 (at potentials <0.75 V vs. NHE at pH 7), as well as disproportionation and oxidation of H2O2 (at potentials >0.8 V). 

Despite the high catalytic activity toward H2O2 reduction and disproportionation, ORR catalysis does not appear to proceed via free H2O2 as inferred from... 

The multifarious character of -orbital symmetry provides a possibility of explaining the catalytic action of transition metal compounds. One example is the catalytic disproportionation of olefins 101>. 

The reactions of olefins with non-organometallic Tc(VII) compounds behaved similarly. In a recent study, [Tc03C1(AaA)] (86a) (in which AA stands for aromatic diamine derivatives) was shown to react quantitatively with olefins, and produce the corresponding Tc(V) diolato-complex [TcOC1(OaO)(AaA)] (87a). The process could not be run catalytically, as Tc(V) complexes tend to undergo disproportionation rather than reoxidation in the presence of water [97]. These alkene-glycol interconversions could not be performed with the analog Re(VII) compound. Rhenium displays completely contrary behaviour, in that alkenes can... 

This situation is termed pore-mouth poisoning. As poisoning proceeds the inactive shell thickens and, under extreme conditions, the rate of the catalytic reaction may become limited by the rate of diffusion past the poisoned pore mouths. The apparent activation energy of the reaction under these extreme conditions will be typical of the temperature dependence of diffusion coefficients. If the catalyst and reaction conditions in question are characterized by a low effectiveness factor, one may find that poisoning only a small fraction of the surface gives rise to a disproportionate drop in activity. In a sense one observes a form of selective poisoning. 

Trichloromethyl chloroformate (diphosgene) is used as a safe substitute for highly toxic phosgene gas. The latter is generated in situ by addition of catalytic amounts of tertiary amines or amides, or active carbon. Diphosgene also disproportionates to 2 equivalents of phosgene on heating above 250°C. 

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