Dodecyl-lactam

Principal raw materials are adipic acid, sebacic acid, hexalmethylene diamine, caprolactam. 10-aminoundecanoic acid and dodecyl lactam. 

Butadiene when trimerised over Ziegler-Natta catalyst to yields 1, 5, 9-cyclododecatriene. Hydrogenation form cyclododecane which yields dodecyl lactam. 

Nylon 12 is prepared by heating dodecyl lactam at 300°C in presence of phoshoric acid to obtain a high Molecular weight polymer. 

Nylon 12 is also produced by ring-opening polymerization of the 13-membered ring dodecyl lactam catalyzed by phosphoric acid (Eq. 21.15). 

Nylon-12 is produced by the ring-opening polymerization of laurolactam (dodecyl lactam) such as by heating the lactam at about 300°C in the presence of aqueous phosphoric add. Unlike the polymerization of caprolactam, the polymerization of dodecyl lactam does not involve an equilibrium reaction. Hence, an almost quantitative yield of nylon-12 polymer is obtained by the reaction, and the removal of low -molecular-wdght material is uimecessary. 

One route to dodecyl lactam is from butadiene as follows ... 

Butadiene is trimerized with a Ziegler-Natta catalyst to give 1,5,9-cyclo-dodecatriene which is then hydrogenated to cyclododecane. Dodecyl lactam is then obtained by a series of reactions similar to those used to prepare caprolactam from cyclohexane (Section 9.2.2.5). 

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