Hydrazine from ammonia synthesis

The two major chemicals based on synthesis gas are ammonia and methanol. Each compound is a precursor for many other chemicals. From ammonia, urea, nitric acid, hydrazine, acrylonitrile, methylamines and many other minor chemicals are produced (see Figure 5-1). Each of these chemicals is also a precursor of more chemicals. 

Figure 8. Arrangement of differential reactor with liquid absorption for hydrazine synthesis from ammonia...

Synthesis gas is a major source of hydrogen, which is used for producing ammonia. Ammonia is the host of many chemicals such as urea, ammonium nitrate, and hydrazine. Carbon dioxide, a by-product from synthesis gas, reacts with ammonia to produce urea. 

Hydrazine sulfate may be synthesized from aqueous ammonia and sodium hypochlorite solution in a two-step process. In the first stage, aqueous solution of ammonia is boiled with a normal solution of sodium hypochlorite in the presence of 10% gelatin solution to yield hydrazine. In the second stage, the hydrazine solution is ice-cooled followed by slow addition of concentrated sulfuric acid (Adams, R., and B.K. Brown. 1964. In Organic Synthesis, Collective Volume I, ed. H. Gilman and A. H. Blatt, 2nd ed. pp 309-310, New York John Wiley Sons). The reaction steps are as follows ... 

Although it has long been known that benzaldehyde reacts with hydrazine in alkaline solution to give a yellow, insoluble precipitate of benzalazine1 and that the latter when steam distilled in the presence of mineral acids is hydrolyzed to give the corresponding hydrazine salts,2 no previous attempt has been made to apply these facts to the recovery of hydrazine residues. This reaction is practically quantitative and can be applied not only to the recovery of residual hydrazine left in solution in the Raschig synthesis (No. 31) but to all solutions where the detection and recovery of hydrazine in the presence of ammonia, or hydroxylamine, are of interest. In the process of formation of hydrazine salts from benzalazine, 95 per cent of the benzaldehyde can be recovered. 

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