Toluene chemicals

The purpose of this letter Is to inform you that a product that we sell to you. Furniture Lacquer KX2-1390, contains 20 percent toluene (Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number 108-88-3). We are required to notify you of the presence of toluene in the product under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986. This law requires certain manufacturers to report on annual emissions of specified toxic chemicals and chemical categories. 

This particular trinitrotoluene is one of the six isomeric compounds of that name, and is the one formed by the commercial nitration of toluene. Chemically it is the a, 1-2-4-6, or symmetrical trinitrotoluene. 

Nishiyama, N., Miyamoto, M., Egashira, Y. and Ueyama, K. (2001) Zeolite membrane on catalyst particle for selective formation of p-xylene in disproportionation of toluene. Chemical Communications, 18, 1746-1747. 

Commercially, xylene is obtained by the catalytic reforming of naphthenes in the presence of hydrogen see toluene) or was formerly obtained from coal tar. The material so-produced is suitable for use as a solvent or gasoline ingredient, these uses accounting for a large part of xylene consumption. If xylene is required as a chemical, separation into the iso-... 

Benzene, toluene and xylenes are used either as solvents or as basic intermediates for the chemical and petrochemical industries. 

Physical Properties. Benzene, C H, toluene, C Hj-CH, and petrol (a mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbons, e.g., pentane, hexane, etc.) are colourless liquids, insoluble in and lighter than water. Benzene and toluene, which have similar odours, are not readily distinguishable chemically, and their physical constants should therefore be carefully noted benzene, m.p. 5 (solidifies when a few ml. in a dry test-tube are chilled in ice-water), b.p. 8i toluene, m.p. —93°, b.p. 110°. Petroleum has a characteristic odour. 

Separations based upon differences in the chemical properties of the components. Thus a mixture of toluene and anihne may be separated by extraction with dilute hydrochloric acid the aniline passes into the aqueous layer in the form of the salt, anihne hydrochloride, and may be recovered by neutralisation. Similarly, a mixture of phenol and toluene may be separated by treatment with dilute sodium hydroxide. The above examples are, of comse, simple apphcations of the fact that the various components fah into different solubihty groups (compare Section XI,5). Another example is the separation of a mixture of di-n-butyl ether and chlorobenzene concentrated sulphuric acid dissolves only the w-butyl other and it may be recovered from solution by dilution with water. With some classes of compounds, e.g., unsaturated compounds, concentrated sulphuric acid leads to polymerisation, sulphona-tion, etc., so that the original component cannot be recovered unchanged this solvent, therefore, possesses hmited apphcation. Phenols may be separated from acids (for example, o-cresol from benzoic acid) by a dilute solution of sodium bicarbonate the weakly acidic phenols (and also enols) are not converted into salts by this reagent and may be removed by ether extraction or by other means the acids pass into solution as the sodium salts and may be recovered after acidification. Aldehydes, e.g., benzaldehyde, may be separated from liquid hydrocarbons and other neutral, water-insoluble hquid compounds by shaking with a solution of sodium bisulphite the aldehyde forms a sohd bisulphite compound, which may be filtered off and decomposed with dilute acid or with sodium bicarbonate solution in order to recover the aldehyde. 

Toluene is also an important organic chemical Like benzene its early industrial production was from coal tar but most of it now comes from petroleum... 

Benzene [71-43-2] toluene [108-88-3] xylene [1330-20-7] and solvent naphtha are separated from the light oil. Benzene (qv), toluene (qv), and xylene are useful as solvents and chemical intermediates (see Xylenes and ethylbenzene). The cmde light oil is approximately 60—70% ben2ene, 12—16% toluene, 4—8% xylenes, 9—16% other hydrocarbons, and about 1% sulfur compounds (5) (see BTX processing). 

In 1980, the last year for which a breakdown has been pubUshed, the amount of benzene derived from coal in the United States was 168,000 t or 2.5% of domestic benzene production. Coal-derived toluene was 0.8% of production, and xylenes from coal were only 0.1% of total chemical production (9). The amounts and proportions of BTX components derived from coal in the United States are expected to be nearly the same today as in 1980. Based on information submitted to the International Trade Commission, approximately 25 companies participated in the coal-tar industry in the United States in 1990. 

In 1973 the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Institute (SEMI) held its first standards meeting. SEMI standards are voluntary consensus specifications developed by the producers, users, and general interest groups in the semiconductor (qv) industry. Examples of electronic chemicals are glacial acetic acid [64-19-7] acetone [67-64-17, ammonium fluoride [12125-01 -8] and ammonium hydroxide [1336-21 -6] (see Ammonium compounds), dichloromethane [75-09-2] (see Cm.OROCARBONSANDcm.OROHYDROCARBONs), hydrofluoric acid [7664-39-3] (see Eluorine compounds, inorganic), 30% hydrogen peroxide (qv) [7722-84-1] methanol (qv) [67-56-1] nitric acid (qv) [7697-37-2] 2-propanoI [67-63-0] (see Propyl alcohols), sulfuric acid [7664-93-9] tetrachloroethane [127-18-4] toluene (qv) [108-88-3] and xylenes (qv) (see also Electronic materials). 

Bis (trimethyl silyl) peroxide (CH2)3SiOOSi(CH2)3 can be used with triflic acid (CF SO H) and acts as an effective hydroxylating agent of aromatics such as toluene, mesitylene and naphthalene (165). Sodium perborate (a safe and inexpensive commercial chemical) can be used in conjunction with the triflic acid to hydroxylate aromatics (166). 

Proof of the existence of benzene in the light oil derived from coal tar (8) first estabHshed coal tar and coal as chemical raw materials (see Eeedstocks, COAL chemicals). Soon thereafter the separation of coal-tar light oil into substantially pure fractions produced a number of the aromatic components now known to be present in significant quantities in petroleum-derived Hquid fuels. Indeed, these separation procedures were for the recovery of benzene—toluene—xylene (BTX) and related substances, ie, benzol or motor benzol, from coke-oven operations (8) (see BTX processing). 

Neopentyl glycol, or 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol [126-30-7] (1) is a white crystalline soHd at room temperature, soluble ia water, alcohols, ethers, ketones, and toluene but relatively iasoluble ia alkanes (1). Two primary hydroxyl groups are provided by the 1,3-diol stmcture, making this glycol highly reactive as a chemical intermediate. The gem-A methy configuration is responsible for the exceptional hydrolytic, thermal, and uv stabiUty of neopentyl glycol derivatives. 

Synthetic phenol capacity in the United States was reported to be ca 1.6 x 10 t/yr in 1989 (206), almost completely based on the cumene process (see Cumene Phenol). Some synthetic phenol [108-95-2] is made from toluene by a process developed by The Dow Chemical Company (2,299—301). Toluene [108-88-3] is oxidized to benzoic acid in a conventional LPO process. Liquid-phase oxidative decarboxylation with a copper-containing catalyst gives phenol in high yield (2,299—304). The phenoHc hydroxyl group is located ortho to the position previously occupied by the carboxyl group of benzoic acid (2,299,301,305). This provides a means to produce meta-substituted phenols otherwise difficult to make (2,306). VPOs for the oxidative decarboxylation of benzoic acid have also been reported (2,307—309). Although the mechanism appears to be similar to the LPO scheme (309), the VPO reaction is reported not to work for toluic acids (310). 

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). 

Selective Toluene Disproportionation. Toluene disproportionates over ZSM-5 to benzene and a mixture of xylenes. Unlike this reaction over amorphous sihca—alumina catalyst, ZSM-5 produces a xylene mixture with increased -isomer content compared with the thermodynamic equihbtium. Chemical modification of the zeohte causing the pore diameter to be reduced produces catalysts that achieve almost 100% selectivity to -xylene. This favorable result is explained by the greatly reduced diffusivity of 0- and / -xylene compared with that of the less bulky -isomer. For the same reason, large crystals (3 llm) of ZSM-5 produce a higher ratio of -xyleneitotal xylenes than smaller crystahites (28,57). 

Synthesis ofp-Ethyltoluene. j )i7n7-Ethyltoluene, the feedstock for j )-methylstyrene, is difficult to separate from the products of toluene alkylation with ethane using conventional acidic catalysts. The unique configurational diffusion effect of ZSM-5 permits -dialkylbenzenes to be produced in one step. In the alkylation of toluene with ethene over a chemically modified ZSM-5, -ethyltoluene is obtained at 97% purity (58). 

Hydrogenolysis is analogous to hydrolysis and ammonolysis, which involve the cleavage of a bond induced by the action of water and ammonia, respectively. Chemical bonds that are broken by hydrogenolysis reactions include carbon—carbon, carbon—oxygen, carbon—sulfur, and carbon—nitrogen bonds. An example of hydrogenolysis is the hydrodealkylation of toluene to form benzene and methane ... 

Petrochemicals are those chemicals produced from petroleum or natural gas and can be generally divided into three groups (/) aliphatics, such as butane and butene (2) cycloaliphatics, such as cyclohexane, cyclohexane derivatives, and aromatics (eg, ben2ene, toluene, xylene, and naphthalene) and (J) inorganics, such as sulfur, ammonia, ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, and nitric acid. 

Benzene, toluene, and xylene are made mosdy from catalytic reforming of naphthas with units similar to those already discussed. As a gross mixture, these aromatics are the backbone of gasoline blending for high octane numbers. However, there are many chemicals derived from these same aromatics thus many aromatic petrochemicals have their beginning by selective extraction from naphtha or gas—oil reformate. Benzene and cyclohexane are responsible for products such as nylon and polyester fibers, polystyrene, epoxy resins (qv), phenolic resins (qv), and polyurethanes (see Fibers Styrene plastics Urethane POLYiffiRs). 

The three chemical reactions in the toluene—benzoic acid process are oxidation of toluene to form benzoic acid, oxidation of benzoic acid to form phenyl benzoate, and hydrolysis of phenyl benzoate to form phenol. A typical process consists of two continuous steps (13,14). In the first step, the oxidation of toluene to benzoic acid is achieved with air and cobalt salt catalyst at a temperature between 121 and 177°C. The reactor is operated at 206 kPa gauge (2.1 kg/cm g uge) and the catalyst concentration is between 0.1 and 0.3%. The reactor effluent is distilled and the purified benzoic acid is collected. The overall yield of this process is beheved to be about 68 mol % of toluene. 

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