Hydrogen Peroxide and Alkylhydroperoxides

Adipic acid is mainly used to produce nylon-6,6, a synthetic polyamide used in clothing, in the automobile industry, and in construction it also finds application in polyurethanes, plasticizers, and synthetic lubricants. Manufacture of nylon accounts for 89% of adipic acid consumption in North America, and 55-65% in Western Europe and Japan. 

Global production of adipic acid is put at around 2.9 Mt/a and its consumption grows at around 3% per year. More than 90% of the production is achieved by oxidation of eyelohexane whieh, in turn, is obtained by hydrogenation of benzene or, in mueh smaller amounts, from the naphtha fraction of crude oil. Other routes to adipie aeid are based on benzene via cyclohexanol, obtained by partial hydrogenation to eyelohexene and subsequent hydration) or on phenol (through its hydrogenation to cyclohexanol, eyclohexanone or a mixture of both). 

Cyelohexane is initially oxidized by air in the presence of eobalt salts a mixture of eyelohexanol and eyelohexanone (known as KA oil) is produced, which is eventually eonverted into adipie add by a further oxidation with nitric acid. 

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