Separation acrylonitrile production

Modified guanidines 3 efficiently catalyzed the asymmetric Michael addition of a prochiral glycine derivatives with acrylate, acrylonitrile and methyl vinyl ketone under simple and mild conditions. Remarkably, both product formation and enantioselectivity were dramatically improved using solvent-free conditions (Scheme 12) [34]. The addition of alcohols to methyl propiolate was performed using fluorous phosphines such as P[(CH2)2 (CF2)7 CF3]3 and again better yields of 99% have been obtained under solvent-free conditions. Toluene was added to efficiently separate the product from the solid catalyst, which was then reused without loss of activity [35],... 

In the recovery section, the effluent vapor from the reactor is scrubbed to recover the organics. Non-condensables may be vented or incinerated depending on local regulations. In the purification section, hydrogen cyanide, water and impurities are separated from the crude acrylonitrile in a series of fractionation steps to produce acrylonitrile product that meets specification. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) may be recovered as a byproduct or incinerated. 

The compositions of the protective materials with the same generic polymer name are not necessarily the same. The basic materials usually have different additives, which affect the material properties. Also, the composition of the basic material may differ. For example, nitrile rubber is acrylonitiile-butafliene copolymer. The proportions of the acrylonitrile and butadiene monomers often fliffer between nitrile gloves. Thus, the protective properties can be quite flifferent for two separate glove products even if the same manufacturer makes them. 

Pure acrylonitrile boils at 78°. Acrylonitrile vapour is highly toxic it should therefore be handled with due caution and all operations with it should be conducted in a fume cupboard provided with an efficient draught. Acrylonitrile forms an azeotropic mixture with water, b.p. 70-5° (12-5 per cent, water). The commercial product may contain tte polymer it should be redistilled before use and the fraction b.p. 76 -5-78° collected separately as a colourless liquid. 

A typical composition of the catholyte is adiponitrile, 15 wt % acrylonitrile, 15 wt % quaternary ammonium salt, 39 wt % water, 29 wt % and by-products, 2 wt %. Such a solution is extracted with acrylonitrile and water, which separates the organics from the salt that can be returned to the cell. 

The current routes to acrylamide are based on the hydration of inexpensive and readily available acrylonitrile [107-13-1] (C3H3N, 2-propenenittile, vinyl cyanide, VCN, or cyanoethene) (see Acrylonitrile). For many years the principal process for making acrylamide was a reaction of acrylonitrile with H2SO4 H2O followed by separation of the product from its sulfate salt using a base neutralization or an ion exclusion column (68). 

The latest of three ethylene recovery plants was started in 1991. Sasol sold almost 300,000 t of ethylene in 1992. Sasol also produces polypropylene at Secunda from propylene produced at Sasol Two. In 1992 Sasol started constmction of a linear alpha olefin plant at Secunda to be completed in 1994 (40). Initial production is expected to be 100,000 t/yr pentene and hexene. Sasol also has a project under constmction to extract and purify krypton and xenon from the air separation plants at Sasol Two. Other potential new products under consideration at Sasol are acrylonitrile, acetic acid, acetates, and alkylamines. 

A.sahi Chemical EHD Processes. In the late 1960s, Asahi Chemical Industries in Japan developed an alternative electrolyte system for the electroreductive coupling of acrylonitrile. The catholyte in the Asahi divided cell process consisted of an emulsion of acrylonitrile and electrolysis products in a 10% aqueous solution of tetraethyl ammonium sulfate. The concentration of acrylonitrile in the aqueous phase for the original Monsanto process was 15—20 wt %, but the Asahi process uses only about 2 wt %. Asahi claims simpler separation and purification of the adiponitrile from the catholyte. A cation-exchange membrane is employed with dilute sulfuric acid in the anode compartment. The cathode is lead containing 6% antimony, and the anode is the same alloy but also contains 0.7% silver (45). The current efficiency is of 88—89%, with an adiponitrile selectivity of 91%. This process, started by Asahi in 1971, at Nobeoka City, Japan, is also operated by the RhcJ)ne Poulenc subsidiary, Rhodia, in Bra2il under Hcense from Asahi. 

When the polymer was prepared by the suspension polymerization technique, the product was crosslinked beads of unusually uniform size (see Fig. 16 for SEM picture of the beads) with hydrophobic surface characteristics. This shows that cardanyl acrylate/methacry-late can be used as comonomers-cum-cross-linking agents in vinyl polymerizations. This further gives rise to more opportunities to prepare polymer supports for synthesis particularly for experiments in solid-state peptide synthesis. Polymer supports based on activated acrylates have recently been reported to be useful in supported organic reactions, metal ion separation, etc. [198,199]. Copolymers are expected to give better performance and, hence, coplymers of CA and CM A with methyl methacrylate (MMA), styrene (St), and acrylonitrile (AN) were prepared and characterized [196,197]. 

In a process for the production of acrylic fibres by the emulsion polymerisation of acrylonitrile, the unreacted monomer is recovered from water by distillation. Acrylonitrile forms an azeotrope with water and the overhead product from the column contain around 5 mol per cent water. The overheads are condensed and the recovered acrylonitrile separated from the water in a decanter. The decanter operating temperature will be 20 °C. 

The solution from the absorber (C) passes to a stripping column (D) where acrylonitrile and lower boiling impurities are separated from water. Most of the aqueous bottom product from the stripping column (D), which is essentially free of organics, is returned to the absorber (C), the excess being bled off. The overhead product is condensed and the aqueous lower layer returned to the stripping column (D) as reflux. 

The upper layer which contains, in addition to acrylonitrile, hydrogen cyanide, acrolein, acetonitrile, and small quantities of other impurities, passes to a second reactor (E) where, at a suitable pH, all the acrolein is converted to its cyanohydrin. (Cyanohydrins are sometimes known as cyanhydrins.) The product from the reactor (E) is fed to a cyanohydrin separation column (F), operating at reduced temperature and pressure, in which acrolein cyanohydrin is separated as the bottom product and returned to the ammox-idation reactor (A) where it is quantitatively converted to acrylonitrile and hydrogen cyanide. 

The bottom product from column (G) passes to the hydroextractive distillation column (H). The water feed rate to column (H) is five times that of the bottom product flow from column (G). It may be assumed that the acetonitrile and other by-products are discharged as bottom product from column (H) and discarded. The overhead product from column (H), consisting of the acrylonitrile water azeotrope, is condensed and passed to a separator. The lower aqueous layer is returned to column (H). 

An aqueous 50% KOH solution (0.5 ml) was added to a solution of phenyl(mesitylyl)phosphine (1.0 g, 4.4 mmol) and acrylonitrile (400 mg, 7.5 mmol) in acetonitrile (10 ml). The flask was heated at 50°C for 2 h, producing a yellow solution. Extraction with ether caused separation of a yellow insoluble material and gave a clear solution that, upon cooling to -25°C, gave white crystals of the product, which were washed with a small amount of petroleum ether. An additional crop was obtained from the mother liquor to provide pure phenyl(mesitylyl)((3-cyanoethyl)phosphine (857 mg, 70%), which exhibited spectra and analytical data in accord with the proposed structure. 

For the addition of ethylene, EtOAc as solvent was particularly advantageous and gave 418 in 60% yield (Scheme 6.86). The monosubstituted ethylenes 1-hexene, vinylcyclohexane, allyltrimethylsilane, allyl alcohol, ethyl vinyl ether, vinyl acetate and N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone furnished [2 + 2]-cycloadducts of the type 419 in yields of 54—100%. Mixtures of [2 + 2]-cycloadducts of the types 419 and 420 were formed with vinylcyclopropane, styrene and derivatives substituted at the phenyl group, acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate and phenyl vinyl thioether (yields of 56-76%), in which the diastereomers 419 predominated up to a ratio of 2.5 1 except in the case of the styrenes, where this ratio was 1 1. The Hammett p value for the addition of the styrenes to 417 turned out to be -0.54, suggesting that there is little charge separation in the transition state [155]. In the case of 6, the p value was determined as +0.79 (see Section 6.3.1) and indicates a slight polarization in the opposite direction. This astounding variety of substrates for 417 is contrasted by only a few monosubstituted ethylenes whose addition products with 417 could not be observed or were formed in only small amounts phenyl vinyl ether, vinyl bromide, (perfluorobutyl)-ethylene, phenyl vinyl sulfoxide and sulfone, methyl vinyl ketone and the vinylpyri-dines. 

Fig. 1. Process flow sheet for the continuous conversion of latex in a counterrotating, tangential twin-screw extruder as it might be arranged for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene polymer (Nichols and Kheradi, 1982). Polystyrene (or styrene-acrylonitrile) melt is fed upstream of the reactor zone where the coagulation reaction takes place. Washing (countercurrent liquid-liquid extraction) and solids separation are conducted in zones immediately downstream of the reactor zone. The remainii zones are reserved for devolatilization and pumping.

Along the way there is one important processing fact to keep in mind. Acrylonitrile or acrylic acid may be an intermediate step to acrylates, but sometimes the intermediate is not isolated (separated or recovered) as a commercial product. That is what makes it difficult to separate discussion of the three ch micys in a neat, orderly way. 

Mercapturates are proving to be very useful phase II reaction products for measuring exposure to xenobiotics, especially because of the sensitive determination of these substances by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separation, and fluorescence detection of their o-phthaldialdehyde derivatives. In addition to toluene, the xenobiotics for which mercapturates may be monitored include styrene, structurally similar to toluene acrylonitrile allyl chloride atrazine butadiene and epichlorohydrin. 

A mixture of phenylpropanenitrile (1.0 mmol), acrylonitrile (1.0 mmol), water (5.0 mmol), and IrH, (PiPr3)2 catalyst (0.10 mmol) in THF (0.25 mL) was stirred in a sealed glass tube at 150 °C for 20 h under an argon atmosphere. After usual work up, the glutalimide product 36 was isolated by chromatographic separation on silica gel in 94 % yield. 

By a basic quench the removal of catalyst fines and ammonia take place separately. Due to the neutral pH in the first stage the loss in acrylonitrile is higher than previously. On the contrary, the production of ammonium sulfate is increased. 

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