Hydrogen alkylation technology

Bronsted Acids. Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is an inexpensive, easy to handle protic acid used widely as catalyst in hydrolysis, hydration and dehydration, elimination, substitution, and rearrangements. It also catalyzes aromatic electrophilic substitutions mostly Friedel-Crafts acylations and alkylations (22). A very important application of sulfuric acid is its use in commercial isoalkane-alkene alkylation technologies. These commercial processes are still based on the use of sulfuric acid (and hydrogen fluoride) catalysts (23). 

Utilizing previously developed alkylation technology which makes available substituted o-nitrophenylacetonitriles, the reductive cyclization of these substances is explored. Several different reducing agents including sodium alcoholate in alcohol, iron dust and HCl, sodium sulfide, sodium hydrosulfite and catalytic hydrogenation (Pd/C) lead to 2-aminoindolenine derivatives or the corresponding N-oxides. 

HP Alkylation Process. The most widely used technology today is based on the HE catalyst system. AH industrial units built in the free world since 1970 employ this process (78). During the mid-1960s, commercial processes were developed to selectively dehydrogenate linear paraffins to linear internal olefins (79—81). Although these linear internal olefins are of lower purity than are a olefins, they are more cost-effective because they cost less to produce. Furthermore, with improvement over the years in dehydrogenation catalysts and processes, such as selective hydrogenation of diolefins to monoolefins (82,83), the quaUty of linear internal olefins has improved. 

Liquid acid-catalyzed processes are mature technologies, which are not expected to undergo dramatic changes in the near future. Solid acid-catalyzed alkylation now has been developed to a point where the technology can compete with the existing processes. Catalyst regeneration by hydrogen treatment is the method of choice in all the process developments. Some of the process developments eliminate most if not all the drawbacks of the liquid acid processes. The verdict about whether solid acid-catalyzed processes will be applied in the near future will be determined primarily by economic issues. 

Peroxides are compounds of great synthetic interest. Especially, alkyl hydroperoxides and hydrogen peroxide have gained more and more importance as cheap and readily available oxygen donors in catalytic oxygenations. Formerly unsafe oxidation procedures (due to the employment of highly concentrated and therefore explosive peroxide solutions) have been optimized or substituted by other and more effective and safe procedures. Over the last two decades, the need for oxidation technologies with enhanced efficiency... 

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