Isobutane-isobutylene reaction

The alkylation of alkanes by olefins, from a mechanistic point of view, must be considered as the alkylation by the carbenium ion formed by the protonation of the olefin. The well-known acid-catalyzed isobutane-isobutylene reaction demonstrates the mechanism rather well (Scheme 5.18). 

Alkylation combines lower-molecular-weight saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons (alkanes and alkenes) to produce high-octane gasoline and other hydrocarbon products. Conventional paraffin-olefin (alkane-alkene) alkylation is an acid-catalyzed reaction, such as combining isobutylene and isobutane to isooctane. 

On the other hand, under superacidic conditions, alkanes are readily alkylated via front-side CJ-iasertion by carbocationic alkylating agents. The direct alkylation of the tertiary C—H CJ-bond of isobutylene with isobutane has been demonstrated (71). The stericaHy unfavorable reaction of tert-huty fluoroantimonate with isobutane gave a Cg fraction, 2% of which was 2,2,3,3-tetramethylbutane ... 

The / f/-butanol (TBA) coproduct is purified for further use as a gasoline additive. Upon reaction with methanol, methyl tert-huty ether (MTBE) is produced. Alternatively the TBA is dehydrated to isobutylene which is further hydrogenated to isobutane for recycle ia the propylene oxide process. 

Alkylation of isobutylene and isobutane in the presence of an acidic catalyst yields isooctane. This reaction proceeds through the same mechanism as dimerization except that during the last step, a proton is transferred from a surrounding alkane instead of one being abstracted by a base. The cation thus formed bonds with the base. Alkylation of aromatics with butylenes is another addition reaction and follows the same general rules with regard to relative rates and product stmcture. Thus 1- and 2-butenes yield j -butyl derivatives and isobutylene yields tert-huty derivatives. 

The Phillips Steam Active Reforming (STAR) process catalyticaHy converts isobutane to isobutylene. The reaction is carried out with steam in tubes that are packed with catalyst and located in a furnace. The catalyst is a soHd, particulate noble metal. The presence of steam diluent reduces the partial pressure of the hydrocarbons and hydrogen present, thus shifting the equHibrium conditions for this system toward greater conversions. 

The Coastal process uses steam pyrolysis of isobutane to produce propylene and isobutylene (as weH as other cracked products). It has been suggested that the reaction be carried out at high pressure, >1480 kPa ( 15 atm), to facHitate product separation. This process was commercialized in the late 1960s at Coastal s Corpus Christi refinery. 

Dehydrogenation of isobutane to isobutylene is highly endothermic and the reactions are conducted at high temperatures (535—650°C) so the fuel consumption is sizeable. Eor the catalytic processes, the product separation section requires a compressor to facHitate the separation of hydrogen, methane, and other light hydrocarbons from-the paraffinic raw material and the olefinic product. An exceHent overview of butylenes is avaHable (81). 

A typical feed to a commercial process is a refinery stream or a steam cracker B—B stream (a stream from which butadiene has been removed by extraction and isobutylene by chemical reaction). The B—B stream is a mixture of 1-butene, 2-butene, butane, and isobutane. This feed is extracted with 75—85% sulfuric acid at 35—50°C to yield butyl hydrogen sulfate. This ester is diluted with water and stripped with steam to yield the alcohol. Both 1-butene and 2-butene give j -butyl alcohol. The sulfuric acid is generally concentrated and recycled (109) (see Butyl alcohols). 

The reaction between isobutylene (separated from C4 fractions from cracking units or from cracking isobutane to isobutene) and formaldehyde produces a cyclic ether (dimethyl dioxane). Pyrolysis of dioxane gives isoprene and formaldehyde. The formaldehyde is recovered and recycled to the reactor. 

When -butenes are used, the initiation produces a secondary carbenium ion/butoxide. This species may isomerize via a methyl shift (Reaction (2)) or accept a hydride from isobutane to form the tertiary butyl cation (Reaction (3)). Isobutylene forms the tertiary cation directly. 

With propene, n-butene, and n-pentene, the alkanes formed are propane, n-butane, and n-pentane (plus isopentane), respectively. The production of considerable amounts of light -alkanes is a disadvantage of this reaction route. Furthermore, the yield of the desired alkylate is reduced relative to isobutane and alkene consumption (8). For example, propene alkylation with HF can give more than 15 vol% yield of propane (21). Aluminum chloride-ether complexes also catalyze self-alkylation. However, when acidity is moderated with metal chlorides, the self-alkylation activity is drastically reduced. Intuitively, the formation of isobutylene via proton transfer from an isobutyl cation should be more pronounced at a weaker acidity, but the opposite has been found (92). Other properties besides acidity may contribute to the self-alkylation activity. Earlier publications concerned with zeolites claimed this mechanism to be a source of hydrogen for saturating cracking products or dimerization products (69,93). However, as shown in reaction (10), only the feed alkene will be saturated, and dehydrogenation does not take place. 

In gas-phase oxidations of isobutane at around 350°C., several workers have reported that the products are about 80% isobutylene and 20% of a mixture of several oxygen compounds. Hay, Knox, and Turner (5) have reported that the nature, but not the total amount, of the oxygen compounds depends on the walls of the reaction vessel. They proposed that oxygen compounds arise from wall reactions. I have found that other workers show little enthusiasm for this conclusion, but the right answer is important. 

Formation of C8 alkanes in the alkylation of isobutane even when it reacts with propene or pentenes is explained by the ready formation of isobutylene in the systems (by olefin oligomerization-cleavage reaction) (Scheme 5.2). Hydrogen transfer converting an alkane to an alkene is also a side reaction of acid-catalyzed alkylations. Isobutylene thus formed may participate in alkylation Cg alkanes, therefore, are formed via the isobutylene-isobutane alkylation. 

At 300°C. and above isobutylene becomes the major product of the gas-phase oxidation of isobutane (9, 36), apparently by Reaction 14. 

Because the reaction is catalytic in ferf-butyl cation and the deprotonation/ reprotonation steps are very fast, extensive regioselective deuteriation of the isoalkane is observed at room temperature as shown by GC-MS analysis. The absence of mass 68 (d10-isobutane) and the presence of mass 64 due to S02 formation in the oxidative process are typical features in accord with the oxidative activation of the alkane and the Markovnikov-type addition of deuterons on the intermediate isobutylene (14). However, the exchange process does not take place in the presence of carbon monoxide, which traps the ferf-butyl cation and prevents deprotonation (Scheme 5.7). 

Even the alkylation of isobutane by the ferf-butyl cation 4 despite the highly unfavorable steric interaction has been demonstrated142 by the formation of small amounts of 2,2,3,3-tetramethylbutane 36. This result also indicates that the related five-coordinate carbocationic transition state (or high-lying intermediate) 35 of the degenerate isobutylene-terf-butyl cation hydride transfer reaction is not entirely linear, despite the highly crowded nature of the system (Scheme 5.21). 

Superacid-catalyzed alkylation of adamantane with lower alkenes (ethene, propene, isomeric butenes) has been investigated by Olah et al.151 in triflic acid and triflic acid-B(0S02CF3)3. Only trace amounts of 1 -ferf-butyladamantane (37) were detected in alkylation with 1- and 2-butenes, whereas isobutylene gave consistently relatively good yield of 37. Since isomerization of isomeric 1-butyladamantane under identical conditions did not give even traces of 37, its formation can be accounted for by (r-alkylation, that is, through the insertion of the ferf-butyl cation into the C—H bond (Scheme 5.22). This reaction is similar to that between ferf-butyl cation and isobutane to form 2,2,3,3-tetramethylbutane discussed above (Scheme 5.21). In either case, the pentacoordinate carbocation intermedate, which may also lead to hydride transfer, does not attain a linear geometry, despite the unfavorable steric interactions. 

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