Maleic anhydride catalysts

We acknowledge the National Science Foundation (Grant number, CB 85-16935) for support of this research. Part of the studies on the synthesis of maleic anhydride catalysts was supported by NASA in the "Synthesis of Catalysts in Microgravity" program. 

M. Becker and J. Walden, Optimizing the yield of maleic anhydride catalyst, US Patent No 4 795 818 (1989). 

As is customary for redox reactions, the yield of the useful product (maleic anhydride) rises with (n-butane) conversion, while selectivity to maleic anhydride declines with conversion. Under the conditions studied, the highest maleic anhydride yield of 30.6%, at a conversion of 57.8%, was obtained at 500 °C, using a feed composition of 1 n-Cy 15 O2 / 84 N2, a contact time of 4.9 sec, and a WHSV of 0.04/hr. Under comparable conversion conditions we obtained with the most celebrated, n-butane to maleic anhydride catalyst (VO)2P207 [16], a maleic anhydride yield of 38.5%. 

The maleic anhydride catalyst is vanadium pentoxide spray coated with porous silica to impart attrition resistance. The catalyst needs to be specially treated for attrition resistance for use in the transport bed reactor. Reactor operating conditions are approximately 500°C (930 F) and 1 atm pressure. 

Forkner, M. (2012). Maleic Anhydride catalyst and method for its preparation US8143461 (B2). 

An interesting practical feature of all mixed oxide catalysts is the very simple preparation from the appropriate ingredients. Maleic anhydride catalyst is prepared as follows ... 

Like butadiene, allene undergoes dimerization and addition of nucleophiles to give 1-substituted 3-methyl-2-methylene-3-butenyl compounds. Dimerization-hydration of allene is catalyzed by Pd(0) in the presence of CO2 to give 3-methyl-2-methylene-3-buten-l-ol (1). An addition reaction with. MleOH proceeds without CO2 to give 2-methyl-4-methoxy-3-inethylene-1-butene (2)[1]. Similarly, piperidine reacts with allene to give the dimeric amine 3, and the reaction of malonate affords 4 in good yields. Pd(0) coordinated by maleic anhydride (MA) IS used as a catalyst[2]. 

The cyclohexadiene derivative 130 was obtained by the co-cyclization of DMAD with strained alkenes such as norbornene catalyzed by 75[63], However, the linear 2 1 adduct 131 of an alkene and DMAD was obtained selectively using bis(maleic anhydride)(norbornene)palladium (124)[64] as a cat-alyst[65], A similar reaction of allyl alcohol with DMAD is catalyzed by the catalyst 123 to give the linear adducts 132 and 133[66], Reaction of a vinyl ether with DMAD gives the cyclopentene derivatives 134 and 135 as 2 I adducts, and a cyclooctadiene derivative, although the selectivity is not high[67]. 

Vapor-phase oxidation over a promoted vanadium pentoxide catalyst gives a 90% yield of maleic anhydride [108-31-6] (139). Liquid-phase oxidation with a supported palladium catalyst gives 55% of succinic acid [110-15-6] (140). 

Ma.leic Anhydride. The largest chemical use for / -butane is as feedstock for maleic anhydride. A dilute air—butane mixture is passed over a vanadium—phosphoms catalyst 400—500°C to produce maleic anhydride [108-31-6] in good yield. Formerly benzene was used as feedstock, but in the last few years nearly all maleic anhydride in the United States, and an increasing proportion worldwide, is made from butane. 

Maleic anhydride and the two diacid isomers were first prepared in the 1830s (1) but commercial manufacture did not begin until a century later. In 1933 the National Aniline and Chemical Co., Inc., installed a process for maleic anhydride based on benzene oxidation using a vanadium oxide catalyst (2). Maleic acid was available commercially ia 1928 and fumaric acid production began in 1932 by acid-catalyzed isomerization of maleic acid. 

Acid Chloride Formation. Monoacid chlorides of maleic and fumaric acid are not known. Treatment of maleic anhydride or maleic acid with various reagents such as phosgene [75-44-5] (qv), phthaloyl chloride [88-95-9] phosphoms pentachloride [10026-13-8] or thionyl chloride [7719-09-7] gives 5,5-dichloro-2(5JT)furanone [133565-92-1] (4) (26). Similar conditions convert fumaric acid to fumaryl chloride [627-63-4] (5) (26,27). NoncycHc maleyl chloride [22542-53-6] (6) forms in 11% yield at 220°C in the reaction of one mole of maleic anhydride with six moles of carbon tetrachloride [56-23-5] over an activated carbon [7440-44-4] catalyst (28). 

Hydration and Dehydration. Maleic anhydride is hydrolyzed to maleic acid with water at room temperature (68). Fumaric acid is obtained if the hydrolysis is performed at higher temperatures. Catalysts enhance formation of fumaric acid from maleic anhydride hydrolysis through maleic acid isomerization. 

Oxidation. Maleic and fumaric acids are oxidized in aqueous solution by ozone [10028-15-6] (qv) (85). Products of the reaction include glyoxyhc acid [298-12-4], oxalic acid [144-62-7], and formic acid [64-18-6], Catalytic oxidation of aqueous maleic acid occurs with hydrogen peroxide [7722-84-1] in the presence of sodium tungstate(VI) [13472-45-2] (86) and sodium molybdate(VI) [7631-95-0] (87). Both catalyst systems avoid formation of tartaric acid [133-37-9] and produce i j -epoxysuccinic acid [16533-72-5] at pH values above 5. The reaction of maleic anhydride and hydrogen peroxide in an inert solvent (methylene chloride [75-09-2]) gives permaleic acid [4565-24-6], HOOC—CH=CH—CO H (88) which is useful in Baeyer-ViUiger reactions. Both maleate and fumarate [142-42-7] are hydroxylated to tartaric acid using an osmium tetroxide [20816-12-0]/io 2LX.e [15454-31 -6] catalyst system (89). 

Aqueous ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) was first described in 1989 (90) and it has been appHed to maleic anhydride (91). Furan [110-00-9] reacts in a Diels-Alder reaction with maleic anhydride to give exo-7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene-2,3—dicarboxylate anhydride [6118-51 -0] (24). The condensed product is treated with a soluble mthenium(Ill) [7440-18-8] catalyst in water to give upon acidification the polymer (25). Several apphcations for this new copolymer have been suggested (91). 

Survey of the patent Hterature reveals companies with processes for 1,4-butanediol from maleic anhydride include BASF (94), British Petroleum (95,96), Davy McKee (93,97), Hoechst (98), Huels (99), and Tonen (100,101). Processes for the production of y-butyrolactone have been described for operation in both the gas (102—104) and Hquid (105—108) phases. In the gas phase, direct hydrogenation of maleic anhydride in hydrogen at 245°C and 1.03 MPa gives an 88% yield of y-butyrolactone (104). Du Pont has developed a process for the production of tetrahydrofuran back-integrated to a butane feedstock (109). Slurry reactor catalysts containing palladium and rhenium are used to hydrogenate aqueous maleic acid to tetrahydrofuran (110,111). 

The catalyst used in the production of maleic anhydride from butane is vanadium—phosphoms—oxide (VPO). Several routes may be used to prepare the catalyst (123), but the route favored by industry involves the reaction of vanadium(V) oxide [1314-62-1] and phosphoric acid [7664-38-2] to form vanadyl hydrogen phosphate, VOHPO O.5H2O. This material is then heated to eliminate water from the stmcture and irreversibly form vanadyl pyrophosphate, (V(123,124). Vanadyl pyrophosphate is befleved to be the catalyticaHy active phase required for the conversion of butane to maleic anhydride (125,126). 

The bulk stmcture of the catalyticaHy active phase is not completely known and is under debate in the Hterature (125,131—133). The central point of controversy is whether (Valone or in combination with other phases is the most catalyticaHy active for the conversion of butane to maleic anhydride. The heart of this issue concerns the role of stmctural disorder in the bulk and how it arises in the catalyst (125,134,135). Most researchers agree that the catalysts with the highest activity and selectivity ate composed mainly of (Vthat exhibits a clustered or distorted platelet morphology (125). It is also generaHy acknowledged that during operation of the catalyst, the bulk oxidation state of the vanadium in the catalyst remains very close to the +4 valence state (125). 

Benzene-Based Catalyst Technology. The catalyst used for the conversion of ben2ene to maleic anhydride consists of supported vanadium oxide [11099-11-9]. The support is an inert oxide such as kieselguhr, alumina [1344-28-17, or sUica, and is of low surface area (142). Supports with higher surface area adversely affect conversion of benzene to maleic anhydride. The conversion of benzene to maleic anhydride is a less complex oxidation than the conversion of butane, so higher catalyst selectivities are obtained. The vanadium oxide on the surface of the support is often modified with molybdenum oxides. There is approximately 70% vanadium oxide and 30% molybdenum oxide [11098-99-0] in the active phase for these fixed-bed catalysts (143). The molybdenum oxide is thought to form either a soUd solution or compound oxide with the vanadium oxide and result in a more active catalyst (142). 

Butane-Based Fixed-Bed Process Technology. Maleic anhydride is produced by reaction of butane with oxygen using the vanadium phosphoms oxide heterogeneous catalyst discussed earlier. The butane oxidation reaction to produce maleic anhydride is very exothermic. The main reaction by-products are carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Stoichiometries and heats of reaction for the three principal reactions are as follows ... 

The highly exothermic nature of the butane-to-maleic anhydride reaction and the principal by-product reactions require substantial heat removal from the reactor. Thus the reaction is carried out in what is effectively a large multitubular heat exchanger which circulates a mixture of 53% potassium nitrate [7757-79-1/, KNO 40% sodium nitrite [7632-00-0], NaN02 and 7% sodium nitrate [7631-99-4], NaNO. Reaction tube diameters are kept at a minimum 25—30 mm in outside diameter to faciUtate heat removal. Reactor tube lengths are between 3 and 6 meters. The exothermic heat of reaction is removed from the salt mixture by the production of steam in an external salt cooler. Reactor temperatures are in the range of 390 to 430°C. Despite the rapid circulation of salt on the shell side of the reactor, catalyst temperatures can be 40 to 60°C higher than the salt temperature. The butane to maleic anhydride reaction typically reaches its maximum efficiency (maximum yield) at about 85% butane conversion. Reported molar yields are typically 50 to 60%. 

Fresh butane mixed with recycled gas encounters freshly oxidized catalyst at the bottom of the transport-bed reactor and is oxidized to maleic anhydride and CO during its passage up the reactor. Catalyst densities (80 160 kg/m ) in the transport-bed reactor are substantially lower than the catalyst density in a typical fluidized-bed reactor (480 640 kg/m ) (109). The gas flow pattern in the riser is nearly plug flow which avoids the negative effect of backmixing on reaction selectivity. Reduced catalyst is separated from the reaction products by cyclones and is further stripped of products and reactants in a separate stripping vessel. The reduced catalyst is reoxidized in a separate fluidized-bed oxidizer where the exothermic heat of reaction is removed by steam cods. The rate of reoxidation of the VPO catalyst is slower than the rate of oxidation of butane, and consequently residence times are longer in the oxidizer than in the transport-bed reactor. 

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