Toluene isomerization

The stability of o-sulfonylbenzonitrile oxides and their thiophene analogs probably depends on electronic factors. The same factors do not prevent dimerization, as can be seen from data concerning several differently substituted nitrile oxides of the thiophene series (103). Sterically stabilized 3-thiophenecarbonitrile oxides 18 (R = R1 = R2 = Me R = R2 = Me, R1 = i -Pr), when boiled in benzene or toluene, isomerized to isocyanates (isolated as ureas on reaction with aniline) while nitrile oxides 18 with electron-withdrawing substituents (R1 and/or R2 = SOiMe, Br) dimerized to form furoxans 19. 

We will use now the same method and Mordenite zeolite model as in the previous part, and investigate the isomerization of xylene isomers. As described in the previous part, this reaction can proceed via two alternative routes, viz. a methyl shift isomerization, and disproportionation reactions. Moreover, we observed than in the case of toluene isomerization, the location of toluene with respect to the Br0nsted acidic site for the shift isomerization was of no consequence for the activation energy barrier. We will check these mechanisms for the three xylenes. 

It was reported that the diphenylthiirene-1-oxide, when heated in toluene, gave benzil, which is formed by air oxidation of an unstable oxothioketone <1996CHEC-II197>. 2,2 -Disubstituted thiirene-l-oxides, when heated in refluxing toluene, isomerized in high yields to corresponding a-oxothioketones (Scheme 24), which were air stable <2002HAC424>. 

Reactions of aromatics, such as cracking of cumene or toluene, isomerization of o-xylene, and alkylation of benzene have also been used extensively to characterize acidityAlthough these reactions can be useful in measuring the total acidity of a catalyst, the results are harder to interpret due to the complex product slate which is typically produced. 

Caine and Tuller8 found that the annelation of 2,6-dimethylcyclohexanone could be carried out in the following way. The initial condensation product (6) was de-hydrohalogenated by treatment with 2 equiv. of sodium amide in liquid ammonia. Further reaction of (7) with the same reagent in toluene isomerized the triple bond... 

Products from the Competitive Gas-Phase Metl with Toluene Isomeric Composition of Products (%) ... 

Murakami, S. Lam, V. T. Benson, G. C. The thermodynamic properties of binary aromatic systems. II. Excess enthalpies and volumes of benzene + toluene and toluene + isomeric xylene mixtures at 25.deg.C J. Chem. Thermodyn. 1969,1, i91-A01... 

Two isomeric arynes give the three isomeric substitution products formed from m chloro toluene... 

Historically, the isomerization catalysts have included amorphous siUca-aluminas, zeoHtes, and metal-loaded oxides. AH of the catalysts contain acidity, which isomerizes the xylenes and if strong enough can also crack the EB and xylenes to benzene and toluene. Dual functional catalysts additionally contain a metal that is capable of converting EB to xylenes. 

Benzene, toluene, and a mixed xylene stream are subsequently recovered by extractive distillation using a solvent. Recovery ofA-xylene from a mixed xylene stream requires a further process step of either crystallization and filtration or adsorption on molecular sieves. o-Xylene can be recovered from the raffinate by fractionation. In A" xylene production it is common to isomerize the / -xylene in order to maximize the production of A xylene and o-xylene. Additional benzene is commonly produced by the hydrodealkylation of toluene to benzene to balance supply and demand. Less common is the hydrodealkylation of xylenes to produce benzene and the disproportionation of toluene to produce xylenes and benzene. 

Marlotherm Heat-Transfer Fluids. Two heat-transfer fluids are manufactured by HbIs America Madotherm S is a mixture of isomeric diben2ylben2enes intended for Hquid-phase systems, and Marlotherm L is a mixture of ben2yl toluenes that are suitable for both Hquid- and vapor-phase appHcations. Marlotherm L can be pumped readily at temperatures as low as —50° C and can be used in vapor-phase systems at temperatures from 290—350°C. The low temperature characteristics of Marlotherm enable it to be used in processes involving both heating and cooling. 

Analytical and Test Methods. o-Nitrotoluene can be analyzed for purity and isomer content by infrared spectroscopy with an accuracy of about 1%. -Nitrotoluene content can be estimated by the decomposition of the isomeric toluene diazonium chlorides because the ortho and meta isomers decompose more readily than the para isomer. A colorimetric method for determining the content of the various isomers is based on the color which forms when the mononitrotoluenes are dissolved in sulfuric acid (45). From the absorption of the sulfuric acid solution at 436 and 305 nm, the ortho and para isomer content can be deterrnined, and the meta isomer can be obtained by difference. However, this and other colorimetric methods are subject to possible interferences from other aromatic nitro compounds. A titrimetric method, based on the reduction of the nitro group with titanium(III) sulfate or chloride, can be used to determine mononitrotoluenes (32). Chromatographic methods, eg, gas chromatography or high pressure Hquid chromatography, are well suited for the deterrnination of mononitrotoluenes as well as its individual isomers. Freezing points are used commonly as indicators of purity of the various isomers. 

Dinitration of toluene results in the formation of a number of isomeric products, and with a typical sulfuric—nitric acid nitrating mixture the following mixture ofisomers is obtained 75 wt % 2,4-dinitrotoluene [121-14-2] 19 wt % 2,6-dinitrotoluene [606-20-2], 2.5 wt % 3,4-dinitrotoluene [610-39-9], 1 wt %... 

Toluene reacts with carbon monoxide and butene-1 under pressure in the presence of hydrogen fluoride and boron trifluoride to give 4-methyl-j iYbutyrophenone which is reduced to the carbinol and dehydrated to the olefin. The latter is cycHzed and dehydrogenated over a special alumina-supported catalyst to give pure 2,6- dim ethyl n aph th a1 en e, free from isomers. It is also possible to isomerize various dim ethyl n aph th a1 en es to the... 

The PMBs, when treated with electrophilic reagents, show much higher reaction rates than the five lower molecular weight homologues (benzene, toluene, (9-, m- and -xylene), because the benzene nucleus is highly activated by the attached methyl groups (Table 2). The PMBs have reaction rates for electrophilic substitution ranging from 7.6 times faster (sulfonylation of durene) to ca 607,000 times faster (nuclear chlorination of durene) than benzene. With rare exception, the PMBs react faster than toluene and the three isomeric dimethylbenzenes (xylenes). 

Potassium Amides. The strong, extremely soluble, stable, and nonnucleophilic potassium amide base (42), potassium hexamethyldisilazane [40949-94-8] (KHMDS), KN [Si(CH2]2, pX = 28, has been developed and commercialized. KHMDS, ideal for regio/stereospecific deprotonation and enolization reactions for less acidic compounds, is available in both THF and toluene solutions. It has demonstrated benefits for reactions involving kinetic enolates (43), alkylation and acylation (44), Wittig reaction (45), epoxidation (46), Ireland-Claison rearrangement (47,48), isomerization (49,50), Darzen reaction (51), Dieckmann condensation (52), cyclization (53), chain and ring expansion (54,55), and elimination (56). 

Xylenes. The main appHcation of xylene isomers, primarily p- and 0-xylenes, is in the manufacture of plasticizers and polyester fibers and resins. Demands for xylene isomers and other aromatics such as benzene have steadily been increasing over the last two decades. The major source of xylenes is the catalytic reforming of naphtha and the pyrolysis of naphtha and gas oils. A significant amount of toluene and Cg aromatics, which have lower petrochemical value, is also produced by these processes. More valuable p- or 0-xylene isomers can be manufactured from these low value aromatics in a process complex consisting of transalkylation, eg, the Tatoray process and Mobil s toluene disproportionation (M lDP) and selective toluene disproportionation (MSTDP) processes isomerization, eg, the UOP Isomar process (88) and Mobil s high temperature isomerization (MHTI), low pressure isomerization (MLPI), and vapor-phase isomerization (MVPI) processes (89) and xylene isomer separation, eg, the UOP Parex process (90). 

Ethyltoluene is manufactured by aluminum chloride-cataly2ed alkylation similar to that used for ethylbenzene production. All three isomers are formed. A typical analysis of the reactor effluent is shown in Table 9. After the unconverted toluene and light by-products are removed, the mixture of ethyltoluene isomers and polyethyltoluenes is fractionated to recover the meta and para isomers (bp 161.3 and 162.0°C, respectively) as the overhead product, which typically contains 0.2% or less ortho isomer (bp 165.1°C). This isomer separation is difficult but essential because (9-ethyltoluene undergoes ring closure to form indan and indene in the subsequent dehydrogenation process. These compounds are even more difficult to remove from vinyltoluene, and their presence in the monomer results in inferior polymers. The o-ethyltoluene and polyethyltoluenes are recovered and recycled to the reactor for isomerization and transalkylation to produce more ethyltoluenes. Fina uses a zeoHte-catalyzed vapor-phase alkylation process to produce ethyltoluenes. 

Stannous Oxalate. Stannous oxalate, Sn(C20 (mol wt 206.71, dec 280°C, sp gr 3.56 at 18°C), is a white crystalline powder, is soluble in hot concentrated hydrochloric acid and mixtures of oxaHc acid and ammonium oxalate, and is insoluble in water, toluene, ethyl acetate, dioctyl phthalate, THF, isomeric heptanes, and acetone (171). It is prepared by precipitation from a solution of stannous chloride and oxaHc acid and is stable indefinitely. 

Mass transport selectivity is Ulustrated by a process for disproportionation of toluene catalyzed by HZSM-5 (86). The desired product is -xylene the other isomers are less valuable. The ortho and meta isomers are bulkier than the para isomer and diffuse less readily in the zeoHte pores. This transport restriction favors their conversion to the desired product in the catalyst pores the desired para isomer is formed in excess of the equUibrium concentration. Xylene isomerization is another reaction catalyzed by HZSM-5, and the catalyst is preferred because of restricted transition state selectivity (86). An undesired side reaction, the xylene disproportionation to give toluene and trimethylbenzenes, is suppressed because it is bimolecular and the bulky transition state caimot readily form. 

Clean examples of diaziridine to hydrazone rearrangements are rare. Diaziridine (119) mentioned above rearranges to the isomeric enhydrazone in boiling toluene, and 2,4-dinitrophenyldiaziridine (125) under the same conditions affords the 2,4-dinitrophenylhy-drazone (145) within 4 h. On blocking this rearrangement by iV-methyl, conversion with loss of cyclohexanone occurred to give benzotriazole iV-oxide (146) (72JOC2980). 

Aromatic compounds such as toluene, xylene, and phenol can photosensitize cis-trans interconversion of simple alkenes. This is a case in which the sensitization process must be somewhat endothermic because of the energy relationships between the excited states of the alkene and the sensitizers. The photostationary state obtained under these conditions favors the less strained of the alkene isomers. The explanation for this effect can be summarized with reference to Fig. 13.12. Isomerization takes place through a twisted triplet state. This state is achieved by a combination of energy transfer Irom the sensitizer and thermal activation. Because the Z isomer is somewhat higher in energy, its requirement for activation to the excited state is somewhat less than for the E isomer. If it is also assumed that the excited state forms the Z- and -isomers with equal ease, the rate of... 

While the direct halogenation of toluene gives a mixture of isomers that is difficult to separate into the pure isomers, the isomeric o- and /r-nitrotoluenes 6a and 6b, formed by nitration, are easy to separate from each other. Thus reduction of the single o- or /j-nitrotoluene 6 to the o- or /j-toluidine 7a or 7b respectively, followed by conversion into the corresponding diazonium salt 8 and a subsequent Sandmeyer reaction leads to the pure o- or /j-halotoluene 9. 

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