Industrial preparation of styrene

Alkenyl halides such as vinyl chloride (H2C=CHC1) do not form carbocations on treatment with aluminum chloride and so cannot be used m Friedel-Crafts reactions Thus the industrial preparation of styrene from benzene and ethylene does not involve vinyl chloride but proceeds by way of ethylbenzene... 

Dehydrogenation of alkylbenzenes although useful m the industrial preparation of styrene is not a general procedure and is not well suited to the laboratory prepara tion of alkenylbenzenes In such cases an alkylbenzene is subjected to benzylic bromi nation (Section 11 12) and the resulting benzylic bromide is treated with base to effect dehydrohalogenation... 

Thus, the industrial preparation of styrene from benzene and ethylene does not involve vinyl chloride but proceeds by way of ethylbenzene. 

Dehydrogenation (Section 5.1) Elimination in which H2 is lost from adjacent atoms. The term is most commonly encountered in the industrial preparation of ethylene from ethane, propene from propane, 1,3-butadiene from butane, and styrene from ethylbenzene. 

So far, the industrial application of these catalytic processes seems to be limited to the production of 1,5-cyclooctadiene (COD) (Ni catalyst preparation of flame retardants and polyoctenamers), tran5-l,4-hexadiene (Ni catalyst) and 1,5,9-cy-clododecatriene (CDT) (Ti catalyst used in preparation of nylon 12 and Vesta-mid ) (Hills Scheme 3). Recent developments are in the preparation of styrene... 

Most comonomers differ from styrene in polarity and reactivity. A desired copolymer composition can be achieved, however, through utilization of copolymerization parameters based on kinetic data and on quantum-chemical considerations. This is done industrially in preparations of styrene-acrylonitrile, styrene-methyl methacrylate, and styrene-maleic anhydride copolymers of different compositions. 

The direct preparation of styrene from the oxidative arylation of ethylene constitutes a highly desirable reaction, notably from an industrial point of view. In 2000, Matsumoto and Yoshida reported a rhodium-catalyzed oxidative coupling of benzene and ethylene under ojgrgen. Rhodium(i) complexes such as Rh(acac)(CO)2, Rh(acac)(C2H4)2, [Rh(cod)Cl]2, and Wilkinson s catalyst [RhCl(PPh3)3] afforded similar catalytic activities in the presence of acetylacetone (acacH) and 0)g gen pressure, while a decreased rate was observed with Rh(iii) pre-catalysts and no reaction in the absence of acacH (Scheme 9.2). Additionally, the C-H bond activation was demonstrated to be the rate-limiting step. ... 

ETHYLENE We discussed ethylene production in an earlier boxed essay (Section 5 1) where it was pointed out that the output of the U S petrochemi cal industry exceeds 5 x 10 ° Ib/year Approximately 90% of this material is used for the preparation of four compounds (polyethylene ethylene oxide vinyl chloride and styrene) with polymerization to poly ethylene accounting for half the total Both vinyl chloride and styrene are polymerized to give poly(vinyl chloride) and polystyrene respectively (see Table 6 5) Ethylene oxide is a starting material for the preparation of ethylene glycol for use as an an tifreeze in automobile radiators and in the produc tion of polyester fibers (see the boxed essay Condensation Polymers Polyamides and Polyesters in Chapter 20)... 

Benzene was prepared from coal tar by August W von Hofmann m 1845 Coal tar remained the primary source for the industrial production of benzene for many years until petroleum based technologies became competitive about 1950 Current production IS about 6 million tons per year m the United States A substantial portion of this ben zene is converted to styrene for use m the preparation of polystyrene plastics and films... 

The generation of caibocations from these sources is well documented (see Section 5.4). The reaction of aromatics with alkenes in the presence of Lewis acid catalysts is the basis for the industrial production of many alkylated aromatic compounds. Styrene, for example, is prepared by dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene made from benzene and ethylene. 

For these reasons, despite the apparent advantages and also despite the fact that bulk polymerisation is so often the method of choice for the laboratory preparation of vinyl polymers, this technique is not widely used in industry. Only three polymers are produced in this way, namely poly(ethylene), poly(styrene), and poly(methyl methacrylate). 

A second route is termed sequential anionic polymerization. More recently, also controlled radical techniques can be applied successfully for the sequential preparation of block copolymers but still with a less narrow molar mass distribution of the segments and the final product. In both cases, one starts with the polymerization of monomer A. After it is finished, monomer B is added and after this monomer is polymerized completely again monomer A is fed into the reaction mixture. This procedure is applied for the production of styrene/buta-diene/styrene and styrene/isoprene/styrene triblock copolymers on industrial scale. It can also be used for the preparation of multiblock copolymers. 

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