1,3-Propanediol polytrimethylene terephthalate

Propanediol Polytrimethylene terephthalate, malonic acid Polymers Biebl etal., 1999 Du etal., 2007a... 

Moore, E. R. and Bray, R. G., 1,3-Propanediol and Polytrimethylene Terephthalate, Process Economics Program Report 227, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, 1999. 

In 1999 Shell introduced their Corterra polymers, polyesters made from 1,3-propanediol and terephthalic acid. This polymer, PTT (polytrimethylene terephthalate), was first synthesized in 1941, saw a long ges-... 

Together with purified terephthalic acid, 1,3-propanediol is used to produce polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), a polymer with remarkable "stretch-recovery" properties. The desirable attributes of PTT have been known since the 1940s, but high production costs prevented its entrance into the polymer market (29). In the 1990s, a new fossil-based route to 1,3-propanediol was developed enabling the production of PTT for higher-value applications, and PTT polymers were introduced into the market by DuPont and Shell Chemicals (29,30). 

Other Uses of Ethylene Oxide. About 2 percent of ethylene oxide is consumed in miscellaneous applications, such as its use as a raw material in manufacture of choline, ethylene chlorohydrin, hydroxyethyl starch, and hydrox-yethyl cellulose and its direct use as a fumigant/ sterilant. Production of 1,3-propanediol via hydroformylation of ethylene oxide was begun on a commercial scale in 1999. 1,3-Propanediol is a raw material for polytrimethylene terephthalate, which finds uses in fibers, injection molding, and in film. Use of ethylene oxide in making 1,3-propanediol is expected to be as much as 185 million lb by 2004, up from 12 million lb in 1999. 

A method of re-cycling polytrimethylene terephthalate containing up to 0.5 wt% acrolein by depolymerizing at 210°C for 60 minutes to re-generate 1,3-propanediol and terephthalic acid was developed by Kato [6]. In this process the conversion was 100%. 

Another of the pioneer polyesters was polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT). This was recognized very early on as a fiber with outstanding resilience. PTT has been known in many ways as an ideal textile fiber for over 60 years. It remained on the shelf until, in the last decade, it became a commercial product owing to two new routes to the crucial intermediate 1,3-propanediol. One route is petrochemically derived (hydroformylation of ethylene oxide), while the other is a fermentation route using corn sugar to make 1,3-propanediol directly using genetically modified bacteria [40]. 

PTT is a new member in polyester family its value as a commercial polymer has improved because its monomers are not all dependent on petroleum. DuPont has successfully commercialized the production of this polymer via 1,3-propanediol obtained by fermentation and produces Polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) with the brand name of Sorona. The beneficial properties of Sorona are derived from a unique, semicrystalline molecular structure featuring a pronounced kink, which means that outer forces, such as tensile or compressive forces, translate at the molecular level, causing... 

The prospects for 1,3-propanediol changed significantly when Shell Chemical announced the commercialization of a new polyester in 1995 called Corterra. This new polyester is a combination of terephthalic acid and 1,3-propanediol. The potential for widespread use of this polyester (polytrimethylene terephthalate [PTT]) lies in fiber applications, as it has excellent properties (Welling 1998). Shell developed a lower-cost chemical route to the monomer, but industrial interest in biotechnological routes remained. 

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