Plant methyl chloride

Plants either secrete an excess of Cl and CI2 by cr glands, or they store it in specific organelles to be shed (e.g., hairs) or lose them when the leaves wither and fall in autumn (Sitte etal. 1998). Plants are also able to produce methyl chloride, which they release into the environment. For tropical plants, methyl chloride output has been calculated at between 0.1 and 3.7 mgkg dry leaf per hour (Yokouchi et al. 2002). 

The indazole alkaloid Nigellidine (269) (Scheme 88) which was described as a zwitterion, was detected in the seeds of Nigella saliva L. (Ranunculaceae) (95TL1993), which is an erect annual plant found in South Asia and is widely cultivated. The seeds are commonly believed to have carminative, stimulatory and diaphoretic properties (75PHA2759). An X-ray single crystal analysis was performed on the methyl chloride. It is... 

Cost estimators have provided reliable cost data as shown in the following table for the chlorinators in the methyl chloride plant addition. Analysis of the data and recommendations of the two alternatives are needed. Use present worth for i = 0.10 and i = 0.20. 

Methyl chloride was mutagenic to bacteria and induced chromosomal aberrations in plants. It induced unscheduled DNA synthesis in cultured rat hepatocytes and, in rats exposed in vivo, there was a small increase in unscheduled DNA synthesis in hepatocytes but not in tracheal epithelial cells or spermatocytes. DNA strand breaks were induced by methyl chloride in the kidney cells of exposed mice. In cultured mammalian cells, it induced mutations and sister chromatid exchanges and enhanced viral cell transformation. It induced dominant lethal effects in rats. The last effect appears to be due to a failure of the males to fertilize the females, rather than to preimplantation embryonic death and can be partially inhibited by treatment with an anti-inflammatory agent (Chellman et al., 1986c). 

In the manufacture of methyl chloride a mixture of methane and chlorine is mixed with recycled gas and fed into a reactor. The CH4 Cl2 ratio is 4-5. The reactor temperature is maintained by regulating the gas feed rate. In methane chlorination plants, 95-96% chlorine yields and 90-92% methane yields are typical.176 All four chloromethanes are formed with a typical composition of 35 wt% methyl chloride, 45 wt% methylene dichloride, 20 wt% chloroform, and a small amount of carbon tetrachloride.178 The reaction, however, may be regulated so that either mono- or tetrachlorination predominates.177 179 180... 

Yokouchi Y, Ikeda M, Inuzuka Y, Yukawa T (2002) Strong Emission of Methyl Chloride from Tropical Plants. Nature 416 163... 

Yokouchi Y, Saito T, Ishigaki C, Aramoto M (2007) Identification of Methyl Chloride-Emitting Plants and Atmospheric Measurements on a Subtropical Island. Chemosphere 69 549... 

Yokouchi Y., Ikeda M., Inuzuka Y., and Yukawa T. (2002) Strong emissions of methyl chloride from tropical plants. Nature 416, 163—165. 

Chloroform and methylene chloride can be made by chlorination of methyl chloride. U.S. 5,023,387 describes the chlorination process and gives yields. Estimate the cost of production of chloroform for a plant that produces 40,000 metric tons per year. Chloroform is mainly used for making chlorodifluoromethane, which is a precursor for PTFE. Methylene chloride is used as a solvent, but the market for this compound is stagnant because of environmental concerns. How does the cost of production of chloroform change if the plant produces no methylene chloride ... 

Use Manufacture of formaldehyde, acetic acid, and dimethyl terephthalate chemical synthesis (methyl amines, methyl chloride, methyl methacrylate) antifreeze solvent for nitrocellulose, ethylcellulose, polyvinyl butyral, shellac, rosin, manila resin, dyes denaturant for ethanol dehydrator for natural gas fuel for utility plants (methyl fuel) feedstock for manufacture of synthetic proteins by continuous fermentation source of hydrogen for fuel cells home-heating-oil extender. 

OSi Specialties, a subsidiary of Witco, was nudged into action by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.53 The problem was loss of methyl and ethyl chloride in the wastewater from a process of making ethers from polyethylene oxide and polypropylene oxide. A complete study of all of the waste streams at the plant resulted in a solution that cost 600,000 dollars and saved 800,000 dollars. This was done by adding a unit that converted the excess methyl chloride from the process to methanol, which could be sold. An attorney for the company says, But if it hadn t made economic sense, we wouldn t have done it. If dimethyl carbonate could be used for the end-capping, there would be no waste salts produced and almost no wastewater. 

Yokouchi Y, MIkeda M, Inuzuka Y, and YukawaT (2002) Strong emission of methyl chloride from tropical plant. Nature 416 163-165. 

Methyl chloride supplies about 0.5 ppb of chlorine to the stratosphere. Prior to 1996, the atmospheric input of CH3CI was assumed to be a result of biological processes in the ocean. Tropical terrestrial sources, biomass burning and tropical plants, are now believed to be important. The dominant sink of CH3CI is reaction with the OH radical in the... 

Among various natural sources, the largest amounts of chlorinated hydrocarbons are supplied into the air by forest fires. In the combustion of cellulose, 2.2 mg of methyl chloride are formed per 1 g of substance burnt. Anthropogenic sources include the combustion of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) wastes, burning of plants in agriculture and uncontrolled fires resulting from human activity. 

Most of the butyl poljuners made commercially are produced by copolsrmerizing isobutylene and isoprene in precipitation processes that use methyl chloride as the diluent and a catalyst system comprising a Lewis Acid and an alkyl halide. The Lewis acid used in many of the commercial butyl rubber plants is aluminum chloride, which is low cost, a solid, and soluble in methyl chloride. Aluminum alkyls are now becoming popular because they simplify catalyst preparation and have been shown to increase monomer conversion. 

Prior to January 2010, the DuPont BeUe plant in West Virginia, about 8 miles east of Charleston on the Kanawha River, had the best safety record of any DuPont production facility. It was therefore something of a surprise when this plant had three separate incidents within about 33 hours on January 22-23, 2010. The three incidents involved, respectively, the release of methyl chloride, oleum (or fuming sulfuric acid), and phosgene. The last incident (phosgene) caused the death of an operator [1]. 

Dow Chemical and Dow Corning are by far the largest producers of methyl chloride, with four plants located in Freeport, XX Plaquemine, LA Carrollton, KY and Midland, ML Also, Momentive Performance Materials and Occidental Chemical have plants in Waterford, NY, and Geismar, LA, respectively. 

Even in a well operated, integrated production unit some losses of both original reactants and products will always occur. Such inputs are significant in the case of those compounds whose major use is as intermediates for further synthesis these include most of the methyl chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, ethyl chloride, ethylene dichloride, allyl chloride, epichlorhydrin and chloroprene. Estimates that have been made suggest that losses of between 0.5% and 2% of raw material and finished product occur, depending on the age of the plant and the nature of the process [1, 14, 15]. 

Many of the compounds, notably methyl chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and methyl chloroform are found widely distributed, at low concentrations, in air, water, sediments, and in the tissues of plants, animals and man himself these concentrations are well below those that could cause any proven adverse biological reactions. 

Acetophenone. Acetophenone [98-86-2] (methyl phenyl ketone) is a colorless Hquid that forms laminar crystals at low temperature (mp 20°C). It has a characteristic sweet orange blossom odor, and is soluble in alcohols and ethers. It is found in nature in oil of casatoreum, obtained from beavers oil of labdanum, recovered from plants and in buds of balsam poplar. It can be prepared by the Friedel-Crafts reaction (qv) of acetyl chloride with benzene in the presence of aluminum chloride however, this route is of Htde commercial significance. 

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