Maleic anhydride selectivity

The TOFs for methanol oxidation to formaldehyde (95-99% selectivity), butane oxidation to maleic anhydride and C0/C02 (30% maleic anhydride selectivity) and S02 oxidation to SO3 are independent of surface vanadia coverage. This observation suggests that these oxidation reactions do not depend on the surface concentration of bridging V-O-V bonds since the reaction TOFs do not correlate with the surface density of bridging V-O-V bonds. Furthermore, the constant TOFs with surface vanadia coverage suggest that only one surface vanadia site is required for the activation of these molecules during the oxidation reactions. 

Catalyst Benzene conversion %) T (°C), T (s), feed comp Selectivity to mucononitrile [%) Selectivity to maleic anhydride (%) Selectivity to maleonitrile [%)... 

Table 2 compares the reaction data for butane oxidation over supported and unsupported catalysts. Supporting the precursor on silica caused a decrease in maleic anhydride selectivity, but an increase in the conversion at both 425°C and 485°C. However, with the addition of extra phosphorus to the supported catalyst, the selectivity could be nearly recovered with no loss in the increased conversion. 

The similar structural and catalytic properties of the SiOj-supported and unsupported samples prepared from the same precursor suggest that the same active surface is formed on both types of samples. The higher conversions obtained with the supported samples could be attributed to higher dispersions of the VPO compounds. The slightly lower maleic anhydride selectivity observed for catalyst A than B or the bulk catalyst could be due to some phosphorus atoms interacting with the silica surface rather than with vanadium atoms, such that the P/V ratio is less than two in the VPO compounds. Addition of phosphorus to catalyst B replenished this lost phosphorus. Previous studies of supported vanadium-phosphorus oxides have shown that some phosphorus atoms can be associated with the silica [2,8]. The catalytic properties of the supported samples as well as the LRS are similar to the SiOj-supported PA =2 VPO samples prepared previously [2,3]. These earlier samples were prepared by adding H3PO4 to PA =1 samples synthesized by various synthesis routes. Thus, for the supported samples, the method of preparation is much less important than the composition. 

Relation between the ratio of surface area of selective face to non-selective one and maleic anhydride selectivity... 

It is sometimes reported that to obtain steady catalytic performance hundreds of hours are necessary for activation of a catalyst under n- butane oxidation reaction [14]. Therefore, firstly the selectivity of the catalyst whose activity became stable at high n-butane conversion (>90 %, ca.lOO hours) was compared with that of the catalyst activated under conventional procedure for about 500 hours (Figure 6). As the same maleic anhydride selectivity was obtained between these two catalysts at the same 60% n- butane conversion, we adopted this short- time activation procedure. 

No correlation between the maleic anhydride selectivity and the ratio of surface areas of selective to non- selective faces was observed (Figure 9). This su ests again that maleic anhydride is formed only on the so-called selective (200) fa.ce and it is not possible to improve the selectivity simply by increasing the surface area of (200) face. 

In normal operation, the butane feed is practically not oxidized, but is burned with the residual gases to produce steam. The operating conditions are closely similar to those used for the oxidation of benzene. BASF (Badische Amlin und Soda Fabrik) uses a fixed bed multi-tube reactor cooled by external molten salt circulation, operating between 360 and 440°C, also producing high-pressure steam. The maleic anhydride selectivity in relation to oxidizable butenes is about 50 molar per cent. 

Figure 20.5. Maleic anhydride selectivity vs feed composition. T = 380°C, Flow rate = 40 mL/tnin (STP), P = 1 bar, 500 mg calcined/activated VPO.

Figure 20.7. Effect of pressure on maleic anhydride selectivity. T = 380 C, Oxidation time = 10 minutes, Flow rate = 40 mL/min (STP), 500 mg calcined/activated VPP.

Usually, catalysis research for a new reaction starts with investigating systems effective for similar reactions. Therefore, the most obvious choice is the vanadium phosphorous oxide (VPO) catalyst, which is successfully implemented in the industry for -butane oxidation. The reported maleic anhydride selectivity varies from 45 to 65% with -butane conversion of 65% [20,21], VPO is also well known to catalyze selectively O- and N-insertion reaction on aliphatics, methyl aromatics, and methyl heteroaromatics [22,23],... 

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]. 

Process Technology Evolution. Maleic anhydride was first commercially produced in the early 1930s by the vapor-phase oxidation of benzene [71-43-2]. The use of benzene as a feedstock for the production of maleic anhydride was dominant in the world market well into the 1980s. Several processes have been used for the production of maleic anhydride from benzene with the most common one from Scientific Design. Small amounts of maleic acid are produced as a by-product in production of phthaHc anhydride [85-44-9]. This can be converted to either maleic anhydride or fumaric acid. Benzene, although easily oxidized to maleic anhydride with high selectivity, is an inherently inefficient feedstock since two excess carbon atoms are present in the raw material. Various compounds have been evaluated as raw material substitutes for benzene in production of maleic anhydride. Fixed- and fluid-bed processes for production of maleic anhydride from the butenes present in mixed streams have been practiced commercially. None of these... 

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). 

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. 

Fumaric acid and malic acid [6915-15-7] are produced from maleic anhydride. The primary use for fumaric acid is in the manufacture of paper siting products (see Papermaking additives). Fumaric acid is also used to acidify food as is malic acid. Malic acid is a particularly desirable acidulant in certain beverage selections, specifically those sweetened with the artificial sweetener aspartame [22839-47-0]. 

Alkyd resins are produced by reaction of a polybasic acid, such as phthaUc or maleic anhydride, with a polyhydric alcohol, such as glycerol, pentaerythritol, or glycol, in the presence of an oil or fatty acid. The resulting polymeric material can be further modified with other polymers and chemicals such as acryhcs, siUcones, and natural oils. On account of the broad selection of various polybasic acids, polyhydric alcohols, oils and fatty acids, and other modifying ingredients, many different types of alkyd resins can be produced that have a wide range of coating properties (see Alkyd resins). 

Oxidation. Benzene can be oxidized to a number of different products. Strong oxidizing agents such as permanganate or dichromate oxidize benzene to carbon dioxide and water under rigorous conditions. Benzene can be selectively oxidized in the vapor phase to maleic anhydride. The reaction occurs in the presence of air with a promoted vanadium pentoxide catalyst (11). Prior to 1986, this process provided most of the world s maleic anhydride [108-31 -6] C4H2O2. Currendy maleic anhydride is manufactured from the air oxidation of / -butane also employing a vanadium pentoxide catalyst. 

Another important use of BCl is as a Ftiedel-Crafts catalyst ia various polymerisation, alkylation, and acylation reactions, and ia other organic syntheses (see Friedel-Crafts reaction). Examples include conversion of cyclophosphasenes to polymers (81,82) polymerisation of olefins such as ethylene (75,83—88) graft polymerisation of vinyl chloride and isobutylene (89) stereospecific polymerisation of propylene (90) copolymerisation of isobutylene and styrene (91,92), and other unsaturated aromatics with maleic anhydride (93) polymerisation of norhornene (94), butadiene (95) preparation of electrically conducting epoxy resins (96), and polymers containing B and N (97) and selective demethylation of methoxy groups ortho to OH groups (98). 

Similar selectivity in displacement reactions is shown by 3,6-dichloropyridazine (153) (available by halogenation of the product from maleic anhydride and hydrazine). Thus, reaction of the dihalide with the sodium salt from sulfanilamide (93) affords fiulfachloropyridazine (104). Reaction of this last with sodium methoxide under somewhat more drastic conditions results in displacement of the remaining chlorine to give sulfamethoxypyrida-zine (105). ... 

Benzene oxidation is the oldest method to produce maleic anhydride. The reaction occurs at approximately 380°C and atmospheric pressure. A mixture of V2O5/MO3 is the usual catalyst. Benzene conversion reaches 90%, hut selectivity to maleic anhydride is only 50-60% the other 40-50% is completely oxidized to C02 °... 

The discovery that Lewis acids can promote Diels-Alder reactions has become a powerful tool in synthetic organic chemistry. Yates and Eaton [4] first reported the remarkable acceleration of the reactions of anthracene with maleic anhydride, 1,4-benzoquinone and dimethyl fumarate catalyzed by aluminum chloride. The presence of the Lewis-acid catalyst allows the cycloadditions to be carried out under mild conditions, reactions with low reactive dienes and dienophiles are made possible, and the stereoselectivity, regioselectivity and site selectivity of the cycloaddition reaction can be modified [5]. Consequently, increasing attention has been given to these catalysts in order to develop new regio- and stereoselective synthetic routes based on the Diels-Alder reaction. 

The thermal reaction of cyclopentadiene (1) with maleic anhydride gives 98 % kinetically favoured endo adduct, unless the mixture is heated for a long time [44]. Under photolysis conditions and in the presence of triethylamine in dry ethanol, a reversed selectivity was found [45] (Scheme 4.13). 

The photo-induced exo selectivity was observed in other classic Diels-Alder reactions. Data relating to some exo adducts obtained by reacting cyclopentadiene or cyclohexadiene with 2-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone, 5-hydroxynaphtho-quinone, 4-cyclopentene-l,3-dione and maleic anhydride are given in Scheme 4.13. The presence and amount of EtsN plays a decisive role in reversing the endo selectivity. The possibility that the prevalence of exo adduct is due to isomerization of endo adduct under photolytic conditions was rejected by control experiments, at least for less reactive dienophiles. 

An interesting phenomenon has been observed in the high pressure Diels-Alder reactions of the l-oxa[4.4.4]propella-5,7-diene (117) with 1,4-naphthoquinone, maleic anhydride and N-phenylmaleimide, where the diene 117 undergoes a rearrangement to the diene isomer 118 which, although thermodynamically less favored, exhibits a greater reactivity [40]. The reactivities of the three dienophiles differed since maleic anhydride and N-phenylmaleimide reacted only in the presence of diisopropylethylamine (DIEA) and camphorsulfonic acid (CSA), respectively (Scheme 5.15). The distribution of the adduct pairs shows that the oxygen atom does not exert a consistent oriental dominance on TT-facial selectivity. 

The Diels Alder reactions of maleic anhydride with 1,3-cyclohexadiene, as well the parallel reaction network in which maleic anhydride competes to react simultaneously with isoprene and 1,3-cyclohexadiene [84], were also investigated in subcritical propane under the above reaction conditions (80 °C and 90-152 bar). The reaction selectivities of the parallel Diels-Alder reaction network diverged from those of the independent reactions as the reaction pressure decreased. In contrast, the same selectivities were obtained in both parallel and independent reactions carried out in conventional solvents (hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform) [84]. 

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