Methanol carbonylations

Figure 3 shows the production of acetaldehyde in the years 1969 through 1987 as well as an estimate of 1989—1995 production. The year 1969 was a peak year for acetaldehyde with a reported production of 748,000 t. Acetaldehyde production is linked with the demand for acetic acid, acetic anhydride, cellulose acetate, vinyl acetate resins, acetate esters, pentaerythritol, synthetic pyridine derivatives, terephthaHc acid, and peracetic acid. In 1976 acetic acid production represented 60% of the acetaldehyde demand. That demand has diminished as a result of the rising cost of ethylene as feedstock and methanol carbonylation as the preferred route to acetic acid (qv). 

In 1968 a new methanol carbonylation process using rhodium promoted with iodide as catalyst was introduced by a modest letter (35). This catalyst possessed remarkable activity and selectivity for conversion to acetic acid. Nearly quantitative yields based on methanol were obtained at atmospheric pressure and a plant was built and operated in 1970 at Texas City, Tex. The effect on the world market has been exceptional (36). 

Low pressure methanol carbonylation transformed the market because of lower cost raw materials, gender, lower cost operating conditions, and higher yields. Reaction temperatures are 150—200°C and the reaction is conducted at 3.3—6.6 MPa (33—65 atm). The chief efficiency loss is conversion of carbon monoxide to CO2 and H2 through a water-gas shift as shown. 

The subject has been reviewed (37,38). Water may be added to the feed to suppress methyl acetate formation, but is probably not when operating on an industrial scale. Water increase methanol conversion, but it is involved in the unavoidable loss of carbon monoxide. A typical methanol carbonylation flow sheet is given in Figure 2. 

Synthesis gas is obtained either from methane reforming or from coal gasification (see Coal conversion processes). Telescoping the methanol carbonylation into an esterification scheme furnishes methyl acetate directly. Thermal decomposition of methyl acetate yields carbon and acetic anhydride,... 

About half of the wodd production comes from methanol carbonylation and about one-third from acetaldehyde oxidation. Another tenth of the wodd capacity can be attributed to butane—naphtha Hquid-phase oxidation. Appreciable quantities of acetic acid are recovered from reactions involving peracetic acid. Precise statistics on acetic acid production are compHcated by recycling of acid from cellulose acetate and poly(vinyl alcohol) production. Acetic acid that is by-product from peracetic acid [79-21-0] is normally designated as virgin acid, yet acid from hydrolysis of cellulose acetate or poly(vinyl acetate) is designated recycle acid. Indeterrninate quantities of acetic acid are coproduced with acetic anhydride from coal-based carbon monoxide and unknown amounts are bartered or exchanged between corporations as a device to lessen transport costs. 

Acetic acid made by methanol carbonylation sometimes has traces of iodine or bromine if the acid comes from the high pressure route. 

Methyl Acetate Garbonylation. Anhydride can be made by carbonylation of methyl acetate [79-20-9] (28) in a manner analogous to methanol carbonylation to acetic acid. Methanol acetylation is an essential first step in anhydride manufacture by carbonylation. See Figure 1. The reactions are... 

The unit has virtually the same flow sheet (see Fig. 2) as that of methanol carbonylation to acetic acid (qv). Any water present in the methyl acetate feed is destroyed by recycle anhydride. Water impairs the catalyst. Carbonylation occurs in a sparged reactor, fitted with baffles to diminish entrainment of the catalyst-rich Hquid. Carbon monoxide is introduced at about 15—18 MPa from centrifugal, multistage compressors. Gaseous dimethyl ether from the reactor is recycled with the CO and occasional injections of methyl iodide and methyl acetate may be introduced. Near the end of the life of a catalyst charge, additional rhodium chloride, with or without a ligand, can be put into the system to increase anhydride production based on net noble metal introduced. The reaction is exothermic, thus no heat need be added and surplus heat can be recovered as low pressure steam. 

The methanol carbonylation is performed ia the presence of a basic catalyst such as sodium methoxide and the product isolated by distillation. In one continuous commercial process (6) the methyl formate and dimethylamine react at 350 kPa (3.46 atm) and from 110 to 120°C to effect a conversion of about 90%. The reaction mixture is then fed to a reactor—stripper operating at about 275 kPa (2.7 atm), where the reaction is completed and DMF and methanol are separated from the lighter by-products. The cmde material is then purified ia a separate distillation column operating at atmospheric pressure. 

Butane. Butane LPO has been a significant source for the commercial production of acetic acid and acetic anhydride for many years. At various times, plants have operated in the former USSR, Germany, Holland, the United States, and Canada. Only the Hoechst-Celanese Chemical Group, Inc. plants in Pampa, Texas, and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, continue to operate. The Pampa plant, with a reported aimual production of 250,000 t/yr, represents about 15% of the 1994 installed U.S. capacity (212). Methanol carbonylation is now the dominant process for acetic acid production, but butane LPO in estabhshed plants remains competitive. 

MEK is also produced as a by-product in the Hquid-phase oxidation of / -butane to acetic acid (31—33). This route was once the most favored route to acetic acid, however, since the early 1980s the acetic acid technology of choice has become methanol carbonylation, and MEK growth by this path is doubtflil. 

Acetic Acid. Methanol carbonylation has become the process of choice for production of this staple of the organic chemical industry, which is used in the manufacture of acetate fibers, acetic anhydride [108-24-7] and terephthaUc acid, and for fermentation (see Acetic acid and derivatives). 

Ca.ta.lysis, The readily accessible +1 and +3 oxidation states of rhodium make it a useful catalyst. There are several reviews of the catalytic properties of rhodium available (130—132). Rhodium-catalyzed methanol carbonylation (Monsanto process) accounted for 81% of worldwide acetic acid by 1988 (133). The Monsanto acetic acid process is carried out at 175°0 and 1.5 MPa (200 psi). Rhodium is introduced as RhCl3 but is likely reduced in a water... 

An analogue of the transesterification process has also been demonstrated, in which the diacetate of BPA is transesterified with dimethyl carbonate, producing polycarbonate and methyl acetate (33). Removal of the methyl acetate from the equihbrium drives the reaction to completion. Methanol carbonylation, transesterification using phenol to diphenyl carbonate, and polymerization using BPA is commercially viable. The GE plant is the first to produce polycarbonate via a solventiess and phosgene-free process. 

Acetic Acid. Manufacture of acetic acid [64-19-7] by homogeneous catalytic methanol carbonylation has become the leading commercial route to acetic acid (eq. 8) (34,35). 

Acetic acid (qv) can be produced synthetically (methanol carbonylation, acetaldehyde oxidation, butane/naphtha oxidation) or from natural sources (5). Oxygen is added to propylene to make acrolein, which is further oxidized to acryHc acid (see Acrylic acid and derivatives). An alternative method adds carbon monoxide and/or water to acetylene (6). Benzoic acid (qv) is made by oxidizing toluene in the presence of a cobalt catalyst (7). 

Metha.no Ca.rbonyla.tion, An important industrial process cataly2ed by rhodium complexes in solution is methanol carbonylation to give acetic acid. 

Methanol carbonylation is one of only a few industrially important catalytic reactions for which the quantitative reaction kinetics is known (21). 

Fig. 6. Process flow diagram for methanol carbonylation to make acetic acid (22).

Polymer-supported catalysts incorporating organometaUic complexes also behave in much the same way as their soluble analogues (28). Extensive research has been done in attempts to develop supported rhodium complex catalysts for olefin hydroformylation and methanol carbonylation, but the effort has not been commercially successful. The difficulty is that the polymer-supported catalysts are not sufftciendy stable the valuable metal is continuously leached into the product stream (28). Consequendy, the soHd catalysts fail to eliminate the problems of corrosion and catalyst recovery and recycle that are characteristic of solution catalysis. 

Figure 5-7. The Monsanto methanol carbonylation process for producing acetic acid. ...

Today most dimethyl carbonate is made by methanol carbonylation (Equation 3.2) using a copper chloride catalyst with a very long life. This process produces pure dimethyl carbonate, which is not now classified as harmful, and water as a by-product. 

The formation of C-C bonds is of key importance in organic synthesis. An important catalytic methodology for generating C-C bonds is provided by carbonylation. In the bulk chemicals arena this is used for the production of acetic acid by methanol carbonylation (Eqn. (9)) in the presence of rhodium- or, more recently, iridium-based catalysts (Maitlis et al, 1998). 

General Procedure for Batch Carbonylation of Methanol in the Absence of Methyl Iodide. A complete set of procedures appears in ref. 5 bnt the following procedure is representative of a methanol carbonylation. To a 300 mL Hastelloy C-276 autoclave was added 0.396 g (1.5 mmol) of RhCl3 3H20, 112.0 g (0.507 mol) of N-methyl pyridinium iodide, 30.0 g (0.5 mol) of acetic acid, and 64.0 g (2.0 mol) of methanol. The mixture was heated to 190°C under 250 psi (1.72 MPa) of 5% hydrogen in carbon monoxide. Upon reaching temperatnre the gas feed was switched... 

Methanol Carbonylation without Mel. While resolving the selectivity issue in ethylene carbonylation was exciting, the observations indicating that the reaction was likely proceeding via a nncleophihc reaction between Rh and the ionic liqnid and did not require EtI provided an even more exciting opportnnity. If a nncleophihc mechanism is operahve, it is likely that we conld extend the technology to the much more commercially important carbonylahon of methanol. 

Traditional rhodinm catalyzed methanol carbonylation to acehc acid (Eqn. 14) requires 15-20 wt.% Mel as co-catalyst (MeOH MeI normally 10 1) and proceeds via an Sn2 reachon between Mel and Rh(CO)2l2" (8). Consistent with the Sn2 behavior, the reachon is T order in both Mel and Rh. (See Scheme 37.2 for the mechanism.)... 

Iodide and acetate salts increase the rate of reaction of Li [1] with CH3I at 25 °C in acetic acid. The effects of water, LiBF4, and other additives are also reported. Iodide salts also promote catalytic methanol carbonylation at low water concentrations. In the case of Lil promoter, lithium acetate is produced. The promotional effects of iodide and acetate on both the model and catalytic systems are rationalized in terms of iodide or acetate coordination to (1) to yield five-coordinate RhI anions as reactive intermediates for rate-determining reactions with CH3I.11... 

Special reactions Haber process, exhaust clean up etc. Hydroformylation of alkenes, methanol carbonylation, asymmetric synthesis etc... 

Of the three catalytic systems so far recognized as being capable of giving fast reaction rates for methanol carbonylation—namely, iodide-promoted cobalt, rhodium, and iridium—two are operated commercially on a large scale. The cobalt and rhodium processes manifest some marked differences in the reaction area (4) (see Table I). The lower reactivity of the cobalt system requires high reaction temperatures. Very high partial pressures of carbon monoxide are then required in the cobalt system to... 

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