Hydrolysis glycol

A Poly(glycolic acid) Entanglement Ester hydrolysis Glycolic acid [8,46- 8]... 

Polyhydric alcohols are compounds containing two or more hydroxyl groups in the molecule. The two most important are ethylene glycol HOCHjCHjOH (a dihydric alcohol) and glycerol HOCHjCH(OH)CH. OH (a trihydric alcohol). Ethylene glycol may be obtained by the hydrolysis of ethylene dibromide or ethylene dichloride with dilute aqueous sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate solution ... 

The epoxides may be converted into 1 2-glycols by hydrolysis. In some cases the 1 2-glycol may be produced directly by carrying out the epoxidation in the presence of water. If the 1 2-glycol is desired, it is usually better to employ performic acid or peracetic acid, the latter best in the presence of a trace of sulphuric acid. An epoxide is first formed, followed by the hydroxy-formate or hydroxy-acetate, and ultimately the 1 2-glycol ... 

Another method for the hydroxylation of the etliylenic linkage consists in treatment of the alkene with osmium tetroxide in an inert solvent (ether or dioxan) at room temperature for several days an osmic ester is formed which either precipitates from the reaction mixture or may be isolated by evaporation of the solvent. Hydrolysis of the osmic ester in a reducing medium (in the presence of alkaline formaldehyde or of aqueous-alcoholic sodium sulphite) gives the 1 2-glycol and osmium. The glycol has the cis structure it is probably derived from the cyclic osmic ester ... 

Sulfonamide effect addition of MeS02NH2 enhances hydrolysis of Os (VI) glycolate (accelerates reaction)... 

Hydrolysis yielding terephthaHc acid and ethylene glycol is a third process (33). High temperatures and pressures are required for this currently noncommercial process. The purification of the terephthaHc acid is costly and is the reason the hydrolysis process is no longer commercial. 

Butanediol. 1,4-Butanediol [110-63-4] tetramethylene glycol, 1,4-butylene glycol, was first prepared in 1890 by acid hydrolysis of N,]S3-dinitro-l,4-butanediamine (117). Other early preparations were by reduction of succinaldehyde (118) or succinic esters (119) and by saponification of the diacetate prepared from 1,4-dihalobutanes (120). Catalytic hydrogenation of butynediol, now the principal commercial route, was first described in 1910 (121). Other processes used for commercial manufacture are described in the section on Manufacture. Physical properties of butanediol are Hsted in Table 2. 

In 1937 the first commercial apphcation of the Lefort direct ethylene oxidation to ethylene oxide [73-21-8] followed by hydrolysis of ethylene oxide became, and remains in the 1990s, the main commercial source of ethylene glycol production (1) (see Ethylene oxide). Ethylene oxide hydrolysis proceeds with... 

The large excess of water from the hydrolysis is removed in a series of multiple-effect evaporators (8), and the ethylene glycol is refined by vacuum distillation. Figure 3 depicts a typical process flow diagram. 

Ethylene glycol was originally commercially produced in the United States from ethylene chlorohydrin [107-07-3J, which was manufactured from ethylene and hypochlorous acid (eq. 8) (see Chlorohydrins). Chlorohydrin can be converted direcdy to ethylene glycol by hydrolysis with a base, generally caustic or caustic/bicarbonate mix (eq. 9). An alternative production method is converting chlorohydrin to ethylene oxide (eq. 10) with subsequent hydrolysis (eq. 11). 

Although catalytic hydration of ethylene oxide to maximize ethylene glycol production has been studied by a number of companies with numerous materials patented as catalysts, there has been no reported industrial manufacture of ethylene glycol via catalytic ethylene oxide hydrolysis. Studied catalysts include sulfonic acids, carboxyUc acids and salts, cation-exchange resins, acidic zeoHtes, haUdes, anion-exchange resins, metals, metal oxides, and metal salts (21—26). Carbon dioxide as a cocatalyst with many of the same materials has also received extensive study. 

Other possible chemical synthesis routes for lactic acid include base-cataly2ed degradation of sugars oxidation of propylene glycol reaction of acetaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and water at elevated temperatures and pressures hydrolysis of chloropropionic acid (prepared by chlorination of propionic acid) nitric acid oxidation of propylene etc. None of these routes has led to a technically and economically viable process (6). 

Propylene Glycol. Propylene glycol, the second largest use of propylene oxide, is produced by hydrolysis of the oxide with water. Propylene glycol has very low toxicity and is, therefore, used direcdy in foods, pharmaceuticals (qv), and cosmetics, and indirectly in packaging materials (qv). Propylene glycol also finds use as an intermediate for numerous chemicals, in hydrauhc fluids (qv), in heat-transfer fluids (antifreeze), and in many other apphcations (273). 

Sugar is destroyed by pH extremes, and inadequate pH control can cause significant sucrose losses in sugar mills. Sucrose is one of the most acid-labile disaccharides known (27), and its hydrolysis to invert is readily catalyzed by heat and low pH prolonged exposure converts the monosaccharides to hydroxymethyl furfural, which has appHcations for synthesis of glycols, ethers, polymers, and pharmaceuticals (16,30). The molecular mechanism that occurs during acid hydrolysis operates, albeit slowly, as high as pH 8.5 (18). 

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