Synthetic Organic Chemical

Synthetic organic chemicals can be defined as products derived from naturally occurring materials (petroleum, natural gas, and coal), which have undergone at least one chemical reaction, such as oxidation, hydrogenation, or sulfonation. 

Those synthetic organic chemicals (excluding polymers) having the production volumes of greater than four billion pounds in 1990, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission Report, are listed below. Note that the production of these 13 chemicals alone totaled more than 100 billion pounds. 

Vinyl chloride Methanol (synthetic) Formaldehyde (37%) p-Xylene 

DMT/Terephthalic acid Ethylene glycol Ethylene oxide MTBE Cumene 

Almost three thousand organic chemical products are currently derived from petrochemical sources. The commercial syntheses for all these products, however, can be traced back to one of six logical starting points. Consequently, this chapter has been subdivided according to the six major raw material sources chemicals derived from methane, those from ethylene, those from propylene, those from C s , those from higher aliphatics, and those from the aromatics. 

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Synthetic Organic Chemicals, U.S. Production and Sales, 1970—1986, U.S. International Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 

Synthetic Organic Chemicals, United States Production and Sales, USITC PubHcation, 1989. 

Synthetic Organic Chemicals Pubhcation 776, U.S. International Trade Commission. 

United States International Trade Commission (USITC), Synthetic Organic Chemicals—United States Production and Sales, 1990, pubhcation 2470, Washington, D.C., Dec. 1991 R. F. Bradley, A. Leder, and Y. Sakuma, Fluorocarbons, ia Chemical Economics Handbook, SRI latematioaal, Menlo Park, Calif., 1990, sections 543.7000—543.7003, plus 1992 supplemental data. 

Synthetic Organic Chemicals United States Production and Sales, United States International Tiade Commission, U.S. Government Printing Office, Waslungton, D.C., 1990. 

Cyclic Hydrocarbons. The cyclic hydrocarbon intermediates are derived principally from petroleum and natural gas, though small amounts are derived from coal. Most cycHc intermediates are used in the manufacture of more advanced synthetic organic chemicals and finished products such as dyes, medicinal chemicals, elastomers, pesticides, and plastics and resins. Table 6 details the production and sales of cycHc intermediates in 1991. Benzene (qv) is the largest volume aromatic compound used in the chemical industry. It is extracted from catalytic reformates in refineries, and is produced by the dealkylation of toluene (qv) (see also BTX Processing). 

According to the U.S. International Trade Commission s Synthetic Organic Chemicals, Production and Sales, 1987, the three manufacturers of diphenylamine are Rubicon, Inc., Aristech Chemical Corp., and Uniroyal Chemical Co. No production figures have been given siace 1974, but U.S. production ia the range of 5,000—10,000 t/yr appears reasonable. 

United States International Trade Commission, Synthetic Organic Chemicals. Calculated from reported toluenediamine production volumes. 

US. Tariff Commission Keports on Synthetic Organic Chemicals, 1941—1969. 

United States Tariff Commission, Synthetic Organic Chemicals, United States Production and Sales, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1941—1943, 1946, 1956, 1966, 1975 United States International Trade Commission. Synthetic Organic Chemicals, United States Production and Sales, Pubhcation2118, 1987. 

Equipment leaks of VOC in the synthetic organic chemicals manufacturing industry (Subpart W)... 

Synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry air oxidation unit processes (Subpart III)... 

Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, 1100 New York Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20005, (202) 414-4100, which offers information about regulatory impact on the chemical industry, particularly small and batch operations. 

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