Methacrylonitrile

Unsaturated nitriles are formed by the reaction of ethylene or propylene with Pd(CN)2[252]. The synthesis of unsaturated nitriles by a gas-phase reaction of alkenes. HCN, and oxygen was carried out by use of a Pd catalyst supported on active carbon. Acrylonitrile is formed from ethylene. Methacrylonitrile and crotononitrile are obtained from propylene[253]. Vinyl chloride is obtained in a high yield from ethylene and PdCl2 using highly polar solvents such as DMF. The reaction can be made catalytic by the use of chloranil[254]. 

Amm oxida tion, a vapor-phase reaction of hydrocarbon with ammonia and oxygen (air) (eq. 2), can be used to produce hydrogen cyanide (HCN), acrylonitrile, acetonitrile (as a by-product of acrylonitrile manufacture), methacrylonitrile, hen onitrile, and toluinitnles from methane, propylene, butylene, toluene, and xylenes, respectively (4). 

MAA and MMA may also be prepared via the ammoxidation of isobutylene to give meth acrylonitrile as the key intermediate. A mixture of isobutjiene, ammonia, and air are passed over a complex mixed metal oxide catalyst at elevated temperatures to give a 70—80% yield of methacrylonitrile. Suitable catalysts often include mixtures of molybdenum, bismuth, iron, and antimony, in addition to a noble metal (131—133). The meth acrylonitrile formed may then be hydrolyzed to methacrjiamide by treatment with one equivalent of sulfuric acid. The methacrjiamide can be esterified to MMA or hydrolyzed to MAA under conditions similar to those employed in the ACH process. The relatively modest yields obtainable in the ammoxidation reaction and the generation of a considerable acid waste stream combine to make this process economically less desirable than the ACH or C-4 oxidation to methacrolein processes. 

Fig. 3. Oxygen permeabiUties of block (A) and random ( ) styrene—methacrylonitrile (MAN) copolymers [33961 -16-9] (11). See Table 1 for unit...

Butyl alcohol is employed as a feedstock in Japan to make methyl methacrylate monomer. In one such process (26), the alcohol is oxidized (in two steps) to acryHc acid, which is then esterified with methanol. In a similar process (27), /-butyl alcohol is oxidized in the presence of ammonia to give methacrylonitrile [126-98-7]. The latter is hydrolyzed to methacrjiamide [79-39-0] which then reacts with methanol to yield methyl methacrylate [80-62-6]. 

Methacrylonitrile [126-98-7] M 67.1, b 90.3 , d 0.800, n 1.4007, n 1.3954. Washed (to remove inhibitors such as p-rcrt-butylcatechol) with satd aq NaHS03, 1% NaOH in saturated NaCl and then with saturated NaCl. Dried with CaCl2 and fractionally distd under nitrogen to separate from impurities such as methacrolein and acetone. 

The common feature of these materials was that all contained a high proportion of acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile. The Vistron product, Barex 210, for example was said to be produced by radical graft copolymerisation of 73-77 parts acrylonitrile and 23-27 parts by weight of methyl acrylate in the presence of a 8-10 parts of a butadiene-acrylonitrile rubber (Nitrile rubber). The Du Pont product NR-16 was prepared by graft polymerisation of styrene and acrylonitrile in the presence of styrene-butadiene copolymer. The Monsanto polymer Lopac was a copolymer of 28-34 parts styrene and 66-72 parts of a second monomer variously reported as acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile. This polymer contained no rubbery component. 

Materials containing the above structure in the polymer chain may be made from copolymers of methacrylic acid and methacrylonitrile. Ammonia-producing additives (such as urea and ammonium hydrogen carbonate) are added to the... 

One disadvantage of this process is the waste NH4HSO4 stream. Methacrylic acid (MAA) is also produced by the air oxidation of isobutylene or the ammoxidation of isobutylene to methacrylonitrile followed by hydrolysis. These reactions are noted in Chapter 9. 

Ammoxidation of isobutylene to produce methacrylonitrile is a similar reaction to ammoxidation of propylene to acrylonitrile. However, the yield is low. 

Metallic solutions, 120 Methacrylonitrile, 155 Methane, -f carbon dioxide system, 97 in clathrates, 30, 41 hydrate, 33, 34, 47... 

Another concern, is the potential reactivity of 10 as a transfer agent under polymerization conditions (see 3.3.1.1.4).103 Tetramethylsuccinonitrile (9) appears to be essentially inert under polymerization conditions. However, the compound is reported to be toxic and may be a problem in polymers used in food contact applications.1" 30 Methacrylonitrile (MAN) formed by disproportionation readily copolymerizes.7"34 The copolymerized MAN may affect the thermal stability of polymers. A suggestion103 that copolymerized MAN may be a "weak link" in PS initiated with AIBN has been disputed.14... 

Irradiation of methacrylonitrile and 2-alkoxy-3-cyano-4,6-dimethylpyridine mixture causes [2+2]photocycloaddition across the C(2)-C(3) bond of the latter to give the bicyclic azetine 4 (45-55%) via an azacyclooctatetraene intermediate <96CC1349>. The [2+2]cycloaddition of )V-acylaldimines and allyltriisopropylsilane to give 2,4-disubstituted azetidines is catalysed by Lewis acids <95CL789>. 

Hoomaert has studied Diels-Alder reactions of pyridine oquinodimethane analogs generated from functionalized o-bis(chloromethyl)pyridines <96T(52)11889>. The photochemical cycloaddition of 2-alkoxy-3-cyano-4,6-dimethylpyridine with methacrylonitrile gives a bicyclic azetine, 6-alkoxy-3,5-dicyano-2,5,8-trimethyl-7-azabicyclo[4.2.0]octa-2,7-diene, in moderate yield <96CC1349>. Regiospecific hydroxylation of 3-(methylaminomethyl)pyridine to 5-(methylaminomethyl)-2-(17/)-pyridone by Arthrobacter ureafaciens has been reported <96MI173>. 

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