Phosphines manufacture

Although phosphine [7803-51-2] was discovered over 200 years ago ia 1783 by the French chemist Gingembre, derivatives of this toxic and pyrophoric gas were not manufactured on an industrial scale until the mid- to late 1970s. Commercial production was only possible after the development of practical, economic processes for phosphine manufacture which were patented in 1961 (1) and 1962 (2). This article describes both of these processes briefly but more focus is given to the preparation of a number of novel phosphine derivatives used in a wide variety of important commercial appHcations, for example, as flame retardants (qv), flotation collectors, biocides, solvent extraction reagents, phase-transfer catalysts, and uv photoinitiators. 

Semiconductors. Phosphine is commonly used in the electronics industry as an -type dopant for siUcon semiconductors (6), and to a lesser extent for the preparation of gaUium—indium—phosphide devices (7). For these end uses, high purity, electronic-grade phosphine is required normally >99.999% pure. The main impurities that occur in phosphine manufactured by the acid process are nitrogen [7727-37-9] hydrogen [1333-74-0] arsine [7784-42-17, carbon dioxide [124-38-9], oxygen [7782-44-7], methane [74-82-8], carbon monoxide [630-08-0], and water [7732-42-1]. Phosphine is purified by distillation under pressure to reduce the level of these compounds to <1 ppm by volume. The final product is sold as CYPURE (Cytec Canada Inc.) phosphine. 

At the time of writing, neither ionic liquids nor fluorous solvents have been used as solvents for commercial processes, although BASF use an ionic liquid as a proton scavenger in phosphine manufacture [36], These are relatively new technologies and time will tell whether or not they will fulfil current high expectations. 

This dicarboxyhc ester is then copolycondensed with the other reactants in PET manufacture to produce a flame-retardant polyester [63745-01-7]. The advantage of this rather unusual phosphinate stmcture is its high thermal and hydrolytic stability. The fabric is probably used mainly for flirnishings in pubhc buildings in Japan. 

Garbodiimide Formation. Carbodiimide formation has commercial significance in the manufacture of Hquid MDI. Heating of MDI in the presence of catalytic amounts of phosphine oxides or alkyl phosphates leads to partial conversion of isocyanate into carbodiimide (95). The carbodiimide (39) species reacts with excess isocyanate to form a 2 + 2cycloaddition product. The presence of this product in MDI leads to a melting point depression and thus a mixture which is Hquid at room temperature. 

Two processes have been used to manufacture gaseous phosphine on a large scale. These are commonly known as the alkaline (1) and acid processes (2). 

The acid process has three advantages over the alkaline process, ie, (/) higher yield of phosphine (60 vs 25%) (2) more pure gas for use in subsequent reactions (95 vs 40%) and (J) by-product phosphoric acid is relatively valuable and can be sold into a number of markets, eg, in the manufacture of fertilizers and flame retardants. There is no ready outlet for the mixture of phosphites produced via the alkaline route and additional processing by oxidative spray drying is needed to produce phosphates for sale (3). 

Apart from the manufacture of derivatives, there are only two known uses for phosphine itself, ie, in the preparation of semiconductors and as a fumigant. 

Flotation Reagents. Only one sulfide mineral flotation collector is manufactured from phosphine, ie, the sodium salt of bis(2-methylpropyl)phosphinodithioic acid [13360-78-6]. It is available commercially from Cytec Industries Inc. as a 50% aqueous solution and is sold as AEROPHINE 3418A promoter. The compound is synthesized by reaction of 2-methyl-1-propene [115-11-7] with phosphine to form an iatermediate dialkylphosphine which is subsequently treated with elemental sulfur [7704-34-9] and sodium hydroxide [1310-73-2] to form the final product (14). The reactions described ia equations 10 and 11... 

Additional phosphonic acid is derived from by-product streams. In the manufacture of acid chlorides from carboxyUc acids and PCl, phosphonic acid or pyrophosphonic acid is produced, frequentiy with copious quantities of yellow polymeric LOOP. Such mixtures slowly evolve phosphine, particularly on heating, and formerly were a disposal problem. However, purification of this cmde mixture affords commercial phosphonic acid. By-product acid is also derived from the precipitate of calcium salts in the manufacture of phosphinic acid. As a consequence of the treatments of the salt with sulfuric acid, carbonate is Hberated as CO2 and phosphonic acid goes into solution. 

Commercially, phosphinic acid and its salts are manufactured by treatment of white phosphoms with a boiling slurry of lime. The desired product, calcium phosphinite [7789-79-9], remains ia solution andiasoluble calcium phosphite [21056-98-4] is precipitated. Hydrogen and phosphine are also formed, the latter containing sufficient diphosphine to make it spontaneously flammable. The details of this compHcated reaction, however, are imperfectly understood. Under some conditions, equal amounts of phosphoms appear as phosphine and phosphite, and the volume of the hydrogen Hberated is nearly proportional to the hypophosphite that forms. 

Phosphonic (phosphorous) acid, produced by hydrolysis of PCl, is for the most part consumed captively. It has also been offered as a flaked product and a 70 wt % solution by Rhc ne-Poulenc. Phosphonic acid is a by-product from manufacturing carboxyHc acid chlorides and alkaH peroxides. Additional by-product phosphonic acid is recovered in the manufacture of phosphinic acid. 

Primary Amyl Alcohols. Primary amyl alcohols (qv) are manufactured by hydroformylation of mixed butenes, followed by dehydrogenation (114). Both 1-butene and 2-butene yield the same product though in slightly different ratios depending on the catalyst and conditions. Some catalyst and conditions produce the alcohols in a single step. By modifying the catalyst, typically a cobalt carbonyl, with phosphoms derivatives, such as tri( -butyl)phosphine, the linear alcohol can be the principal product from 1-butene. 

Coordination-catalyzed ethylene oligomerization into n-a-olefins. The synthesis of homologous, even-numbered, linear a-olefins can also be performed by oligomerization of ethylene with the aid of homogeneous transition metal complex catalysts [26]. Such a soluble complex catalyst is formed by reaction of, say, a zero-valent nickel compound with a tertiary phosphine ligand. A typical Ni catalyst for the ethylene oligomerization is manufactured from cyclo-octadienyl nickel(O) and diphenylphosphinoacetic ester ... 

In the plasma reactor dedicated for intrinsic material deposition (2 in Fig. 5), only hydrogen and silane are used, along with argon. A mixture of trimethylboron (5% TMB in H2), SiHa, and methane (CH4) is used in the / -plasma reactor (3 in Fig. 5). Diborane can also be used. A mixture of phosphine [PH3 (1% in H2)] and SIH4 is used in an n-plasma reactor (4 in Fig. 5). All gases are of 6.0 quality (99.9999% pure) if available from manufacturers, and otherwise as pure as possible. 

RCH/RP [Ruhrchemie/Rhone Poulenc] A variation of the 0X0 process in which the triphenyl phosphine (part of the Wilkinson catalyst) is sulfonated, in order to render the catalyst soluble in water for easier recovery. First commercialized in 1984 for the manufacture of butyraldehyde. 

Phosphine complexes, osmium, 19 642 Phosphine coordination complexes, of uranium, 25 436 Phosphine derivatives, 19 28 Phosphine oxide(s), 11 495-496 19 66 predicted deviations from Raoult s law based on hydrogen-bonding interactions, 8 814t in salicylic acid manufacture, 22 8 Phosphine oxide diols/triols, 11 501 Phosphine selenides, 22 90 Phosphinic acid, 19 20, 54-55 Phosphinic anhydride, 11 499 Phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) proteins, 13 360 Phosphite esters, 19 20 Phosphites, in VDC polymer stabilization, 25 720... 

Greater durability of the colloidal Pd/C catalysts was also observed in this case. The catalytic activity was found to have declined much less than a conventionally manufactured Pd/C catalyst after recycling both catalysts 25 times under similar conditions. Obviously, the lipophilic (Oct)4NCl surfactant layer prevents the colloid particles from coagulating and being poisoned in the alkaline aqueous reaction medium. Shape-selective hydrocarbon oxidation catalysts have been described, where active Pt colloid particles are present exclusively in the pores of ultramicroscopic tungsten heteropoly compounds [162], Phosphine-free Suzuki and Heck reactions involving iodo-, bromo-or activated chloroatoms were performed catalytically with ammonium salt- or poly(vinylpyrroli-done)-stabilized palladium or palladium nickel colloids (Equation 3.9) [162, 163],... 

The synthesis of aldehydes via hydroformylation of alkenes is an important industrial process used to produce in the region of 6 million tonnes a year of aldehydes. These compounds are used as intermediates in the manufacture of plasticizers, soaps, detergents and pharmaceutical products [7], While the majority of aldehydes prepared from alkene hydroformylation are done so in organic solvents, some research in 1975 showed that rhodium complexes with sulfonated phosphine ligands immobilized in water were able to hydroformylate propene with virtually complete retention of rhodium in the aqueous phase [8], Since catalyst loss is a major problem in the production of bulk chemicals of this nature, the process was scaled up, culminating in the Ruhrchemie-Rhone-Poulenc process for hydroformylation of propene, initially on a 120000 tonne per year scale [9], The development of this biphasic process represents one of the major transitions since the discovery of the hydroformylation reaction. The key transitions in this field include [10] ... 

Phosphorus is used in pyrotechnics, smoke bombs, incendiary shells, and safety matches. It also is used in organic syntheses, manufacture of phosphoric acid, phosphorus trichloride, phosphine, and other compounds. 

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