Olefins petroleum-derived alcohols

Isopropanol (2-propanol) is an important alcohol of great synthetic utility. It is the second-largest volume alcohol after methanol (1998 U.S. production was approximately 1.5 billion pounds) and it was the 49th ranked chemical. Isopropanol under the name isopropyl alcohol was the first industrial chemical synthesized from a petroleum-derived olefin (1920). 

This indicates the two-fold function of petroleum chemicals the hydration of olefins led to alcohols and to the family of derivatives of alcohols already made from other sources and, on the other hand, the olefin oxides and their derivatives were new industrial chemicals not previously made. 

Petroleum-Derived Linear and Branched Alcohols 6.2.2.1 Raw Materials, Compositions, and Olefin Chemistry... 

Branched dodecyl alcohol derived from the oxidation of branched olefins from petroleum feedstocks. 

Direct Oxidation. Direct oxidation of petroleum hydrocarbons has been practiced on a small scale since 1926 methanol, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde are produced. A much larger project (29) began operating in 1945. The main product of the latter operation is acetic acid, used for the manufacture of cellulose acetate rayon. The oxidation process consists of mixing air with a butane-propane mixture and passing the compressed mixture over a catalyst in a tubular reaction furnace. The product mixture includes acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, acetone, propyl and butyl alcohols, methyl ethyl ketone, and propylene oxide and glycols. The acetaldehyde is oxidized to acetic acid in a separate plant. Thus the products of this operation are the same as those (or their derivatives) produced by olefin hydration and other aliphatic syntheses. 

Another class of detergents that merits attention is represented by the alkyl sulfates. These materials have been prepared by the direct sulfation of high boiling olefins resulting from the cracking of paraffin wax or the sulfation of alcohols derived from petroleum. 

An interesting sequel to the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is the so-called 0X0 reaction. Olefines derived from the Fischer-Tropsch process will react with carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the presence of cobalt carbonyl at temperatures of 110° to 150°C, under pressures of 150 to 200 atmospheres, to yield aldehydes. These can either be reduced to alcohols or oxidized to fatty acids, and they are derived from the petroleum industry... 

Clearly, the slate of chemicals produced from coal-derived synthesis gas will expand as new technologies are developed, and supplies of petroleum and natural gas dwindle. The most likely such chemicals are those for which existing processes have been demonstrated but which presently lack economic merit. Relatively small improvements in technology, shifts in feedstock availability, capital costs, or political factors could enhance the viability of coal-based processes for the production of methanol, ethanol, and higher alcohols, vinyl acetate, ethylene glycol, carboxylic acids, and light olefins. 

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