Fumaric acid, oxidation

Organic acids Hydration of fumaric acid, oxidation of alkenes, oxidation of isobutyric acid, reduction of 3-chloroacetic acid ester, aminolysis of histidine Hasegawa (1982)... 

Colourless prisms m.p. 130 C. Manufactured by treating maleic anhydride with water. It is converted to the anhydride by heating at By prolonged heating at 150 "C or by heating with water under pressure at 200 C, it is converted to the isomeric (trans) fumaric acid. Reduced by hydrogen to succinic acid. Oxidized by alkaline solutions of potassium permanganate to mesotartaric acid. When heated with solutions of sodium hydroxide at 100 C, sodium( )-malate is formed. Used in the preparation of ( )-malic acid and in some polymer formulations. 

Racemic acid, ( )-tartaric acid, is a compound of the two active forms. M.p. 273 C (with IHjO), m.p. 205°C (anhydrous). Less soluble in water than (-t-)-tartaric acid. Formed, together with mesotartaric acid, by boiling (4-)-tartaric acid with 30% NaOH solution, or by oxidation of fumaric acid. Potassium hydrogen racemate is very insoluble. 

Fumaric acid is conveniently prepared by the oxidation of the inexpensive furfural with sodium chlorate in the presence of a vanadium pentoxide catalyst ... 

Maleic anhydride and the two diacid isomers were first prepared in the 1830s (1) but commercial manufacture did not begin until a century later. In 1933 the National Aniline and Chemical Co., Inc., installed a process for maleic anhydride based on benzene oxidation using a vanadium oxide catalyst (2). Maleic acid was available commercially ia 1928 and fumaric acid production began in 1932 by acid-catalyzed isomerization of maleic acid. 

Oxidation. Maleic and fumaric acids are oxidized in aqueous solution by ozone [10028-15-6] (qv) (85). Products of the reaction include glyoxyhc acid [298-12-4], oxalic acid [144-62-7], and formic acid [64-18-6], Catalytic oxidation of aqueous maleic acid occurs with hydrogen peroxide [7722-84-1] in the presence of sodium tungstate(VI) [13472-45-2] (86) and sodium molybdate(VI) [7631-95-0] (87). Both catalyst systems avoid formation of tartaric acid [133-37-9] and produce i j -epoxysuccinic acid [16533-72-5] at pH values above 5. The reaction of maleic anhydride and hydrogen peroxide in an inert solvent (methylene chloride [75-09-2]) gives permaleic acid [4565-24-6], HOOC—CH=CH—CO H (88) which is useful in Baeyer-ViUiger reactions. Both maleate and fumarate [142-42-7] are hydroxylated to tartaric acid using an osmium tetroxide [20816-12-0]/io 2LX.e [15454-31 -6] catalyst system (89). 

Process Technology Evolution. Maleic anhydride was first commercially produced in the early 1930s by the vapor-phase oxidation of benzene [71-43-2]. The use of benzene as a feedstock for the production of maleic anhydride was dominant in the world market well into the 1980s. Several processes have been used for the production of maleic anhydride from benzene with the most common one from Scientific Design. Small amounts of maleic acid are produced as a by-product in production of phthaHc anhydride [85-44-9]. This can be converted to either maleic anhydride or fumaric acid. Benzene, although easily oxidized to maleic anhydride with high selectivity, is an inherently inefficient feedstock since two excess carbon atoms are present in the raw material. Various compounds have been evaluated as raw material substitutes for benzene in production of maleic anhydride. Fixed- and fluid-bed processes for production of maleic anhydride from the butenes present in mixed streams have been practiced commercially. None of these... 

Fumaric Acid. Fumaric acid is used to acidify beverages for human consumption and has many iadustrial uses. Its acidic properties can cause skin and eye irritation. Fumaric acid combusts when exposed to heat or flame and can react vigorously with oxidizing agents. 

Sorbic acid is oxidized rapidly in the presence of molecular oxygen or peroxide compounds. The decomposition products indicate that the double bond farthest from the carboxyl group is oxidized (11). More complete oxidation leads to acetaldehyde, acetic acid, fumaraldehyde, fumaric acid, and polymeric products. Sorbic acid undergoes Diels-Alder reactions with many dienophiles and undergoes self-dimerization, which leads to eight possible isomeric Diels-Alder stmctures (12). 

Succinic anhydride [108-30-5] (3,4-dihydro-2,5-furandione butanedioic anhydride tetrahydro-2,5-dioxofuran 2,5-diketotetrahydrofuran succinyl oxide), C H O, was first obtained by dehydration of succinic acid. In the 1990s anhydride is produced by hydrogenation of maleic anhydride and the acid by hydration of the anhydride, by hydrogenation of aqueous solutions of maleic acid, or as a by-product in the manufacture of adipic acid (qv) (see Maleic ANHYDRIDE, MALEIC ACID, AND FUMARIC ACID). 

Oxidation of n-hutane to maleic anhydride is becoming a major source for this important chemical. Maleic anhydride could also be produced by the catalytic oxidation of n-butenes (Chapter 9) and benzene (Chapter 10). The principal use of maleic anhydride is in the synthesis of unsaturated polyester resins. These resins are used to fabricate glass-fiber reinforced materials. Other uses include fumaric acid, alkyd resins, and pesticides. Maleic acid esters are important plasticizers and lubricants. Maleic anhydride could also be a precursor for 1,4-butanediol (Chapter 9). 

Fumaric acid is used in the plastics industry, in the food industry and as a source of malic add. Although demand has increased rapidly over the last 30 years its production from fermentation has been totally replaced by a chemical method. It is now produced far more cheaply by the catalytic oxidation of hydrocarbons, particularly benzene. With the continuing uncertainties concerning the availability and cost of petroleum, however, fermentation may yet be a viable alternative. 

Co(lII) perchlorate oxidations of succinic, aspartic, maleic and fumaric acids all obey the rate expression ... 

Decarboxylation of 4 to phenol 7 occurs but only few expected compounds derived from oxidation of phenol were detected in traces such as fumaric acid. 

Some experiments were conducted to determine the influence of the solution pH. The catalytic oxidation of p-coumaric acid has been performed by increasing the initial pH from 3.5 to 7.5 and 11. Although the cleavage of the exocyclic double bond may be pH sensitive we obtained the same major intermediates which are the hydroxybenzaldehyde and the p-hydroxybenzoic acid molecules. The rate of oxidation of these aromatic compounds to ring opening compounds was higher when the initial pH was basic and yielded higher concentrations of maleic and fumaric acids. 

Hydrogen. The Synthesis and Oxidation of Fumaric Acid. J. Amer. chem. Soc. 64, 948 (1942). 

Arnstein, H. R. V., and R. Bentley Acid Oxidation of Fumaric Acid. 

Aliphatic acids (fumaric acid, maleic acid) are rapidly oxidized at the Sn02 anode, whereas they are practically electrochemically inactive at the Pt anode. The process at the Sn02 is able to completely oxidize phenol, which is quite unique for a low temperature process. 

But similar oxidation of fumaric acid gives a raceime mixture... 

Development of the third class, i.e. unsaturated polyester resins, remained rather slow until the late 1930s, but after commercial production of maleic anhydride by catalytic oxidation of benzene began in 1933, maleic anhydride and fumaric acid rapidly became the most important sources of unsaturated groups in polyesters. The mechanism of drying of these resins on their own and with the addition of drying oils (i.e. unsaturated compounds such as linseed oil) was... 

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