Zeolite aromatics nitration

Another major cause of waste is the use of mineral acids (H2SO4, H3PO4, etc.) and Lewis acids (AICI3, ZnCL), often in stoichiometric amounts, which cannot be recovered and recycled. A typical example is the HNO3/H2SO4 mixture used in aromatic nitrations. Consequently, there is a discernible trend towards the use of solid, recyclable Brpnsted and Lewis acids, e.g. zeolites, acidic clays, etc. (see later) as alternatives to conventional mineral and Lewis acids. 

These examples represent the proverbial tip of the iceberg. In the future, zeolites and related solid acids will be widely applied as catalysts in the fine chemicals industry. One final example, worthy of mention, is a widely used reaction of long standing aromatic nitration. 

Smith and coworkers have screened the solid catalysts for aromatic nitration, and found that zeolite (3 gives the best result. Simple aromatic compounds such as benzene, alkylbenzenes, halogenobenzenes, and certain disubstituted benzenes are nitrated in excellent yields with high regioselectivity under mild conditions using zeolite (3 as a catalyst and a stoichiometric quantity of nitric acid and acetic anhydride.11 For example, nitration of toluene gives a quantitative yield of mononitrotoluenes, of which 79% is 4-nitrotoluene. Nitration of fluorobenzene under the same conditions gives p-fluoronitrobenzene exclusively (Eqs. 2.1 and 2.2)... 

Claridge, R. P., Llewellyn, Lancaster, N. Millar, R. W., Moodie, R. B. and Sandall, J. P. B. Zeolite catalysis of aromatic nitrations with dinitrogen pentoxide, J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 2, 1999, 1815-1818. 

Traditionally, nitration has been performed with a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids (mixed acid method). However, the method is highly unselective for nitration of substituted aromatic compounds and disposal of the spent acid reagents presents a serious environmental issue. In order to address these problems several alternative methods for aromatic nitration have been developed recently. For example, lanthanide triflates catalyse nitration with nitric acid, which avoids the use of large volumes of sulfuric acid but provides no enhancement of selectivity.6 Selectivity of nitrations with alkyl nitrates,7 acyl nitrates,8 or even nitric acid itself9,10 can, however, be enhanced by zeolites. 

We then carried out similar reactions in which various zeolites were used as catalysts instead of Fe(acac)3 in an attempt to determine which zeolite, if any, would be most applicable to para-selective aromatic nitration. Zeolites HB and NaB produced the greatest selectivity for para-chloronitrobenzene (85 %) and the highest yields (90 and 96 %). Therefore, zeolite HB was tested with a range of other substrates (Scheme 4). The results are shown in Table 1. 

Aromatic nitration. A simple method of nitration involves treatment of arenes with HNOj-ACjO in the presence of zeolite P at 0°. 

Nevertheless, such reactions catalyzed by zeolites have been discussed in the review of 2001 (1) isomerization (double-bond shift, isomerization of tricyclic molecules, like synthesis of adamantane, isomerization of terpenes, diverse rearrangements, conversion of aldehydes into ketones), (2) electrophilic substitution in arenes (alkylation of aromatics, including the synthesis of linear alkylbenzenes, alkylation and acylation of phenols, heteroarenes and amines, aromatics nitration and halogenation), (3) cyclization, including the formation of heterocycles, Diels-Alder reaction, (4) nucleophilic substitution and addition,... 

Aromatics nitration on H-BEA or HZSM-5 zeolites using commercial HNO3 in the vapor-phase process may be considered as a potentially ready-to-commercialize process [162], though the catalyst long-term stability may be a problem. 

Several metal oxides could be used as acid catalysts, although zeolites and zeo-types are mainly preferred as an alternative to liquid acids (Figure 13.1). This is a consequence of the possibility of tuning the acidity of microporous materials as well as the shape selectivity observed with zeolites that have favored their use in new catalytic processes. However, a solid with similar or higher acid strength than 100% sulfuric acid (the so-called superacid materials) could be preferred in some processes. From these solid catalysts, nation, heteropolyoxometalates, or sulfated metal oxides have been extensively studied in the last ten years (Figure 13.2). Their so-called superacid character has favored their use in a large number of acid reactions alkane isomerization, alkylation of isobutene, or aromatic hydrocarbons with olefins, acylation, nitrations, and so forth. 

Simple ways to catalyze nitrations and sulfonylations of aromatic compounds are of great interest since these reactions are carried out industrially on large scale. Clays and zeolites with defined pore structures and channels as acidic catalysts have been utilized in nitrations [109] and Friedel-Crafts sulfonylations [110]. 

Aromatics. The application of solid acid catalysts provides excellent possibilities to carry out aromatic electrophilic substitutions in an environmentally friendly way. Various zeolites were found by Smith and coworkers to exhibit high activities and selectivities.250 Acetyl nitrate generated in situ from acetic anhydride and HNO3 transforms alkylbenzenes to the corresponding para-nitro derivatives in high yield (92-99%) and with excellent selectivity (79-92%) when applied in the presence of large-pore H-Beta zeolites.251 Lattice flexibility and the coordination of acetyl... 

Exclusive ring-nitration occurs with alkylbenzenes. The nitration of toluene in the presence of H-ZSM-5 and molecular oxygen shows a remarkable enhancement of para selectivity (ortho para ratio = 0.08).268 A review is available for the nitration of aromatics by nitrogen oxides on zeolite catalysts.269... 

Keywords aromatic compound nitric acid, acetic anhydride, zeolite, nitration, aromatic nitro compound... 

Nitration of aromatic compounds using zeolites as catalysts. 107... 

NITRATION OF AROMATIC COMPOUNDS USING ZEOLITES AS CATALYSTS... 

Nitration of monosubstituted aromatics, toluene in particular, has been extensively studied using zeolites in order to direct the reaction towards the formation of the desired para-isomer. Toluene has been nitrated para-selectively with benzoyl nitrate over zeolite catalysts.[14,15] For example, when mordenite is used as a catalyst, MNTs are formed in almost quantitative yields, giving 67 % of the para-isomer in 10 min, but tetrachloromethane is required as solvent. However, the main problems associated with the use of benzoyl nitrate are handling difficulties due to its sensitivity toward decomposition, and the tendency toward detonation upon contact with rough surfaces. Nagy et a/.[19 21] reported the nitration of benzene, chlorobenzene, toluene and o-xylene with benzoyl nitrate in the presence of an amorphous aluminosilicate, as well as with zeolites HY and ZSM-11, in hexane as a... 

Using Menke s conditions, Smith et al.[29,30] have described a method for the nitration of benzene, alkylbenzenes and halogenobenzenes using zeolites with different topologies (HBeta, HY, HZSM-5 and HMordenite) as catalysts and a stoichiometric amount of nitric acid and acetic anhydride. The reactions were carried out without solvent at temperatures between -50 °C and 20 °C. For the nitration of toluene, tridirectional zeolites HBeta and HY were the most active catalysts achieving >99 % conversion in 5 min reaction time. However, HY exhibited selectivity to the p-nitrotoluene very similar to the homogeneous phase, while with HBeta, selectivities to p-nitrotoluene higher than 70% could be achieved. HBeta zeolite exhibited excellent para-selectivity for the nitration of the different monosubstituted aromatics (Table 5.1). The catalyst can be recycled and the only by-product, acetic acid, can be separated by vacuum distillation. 

Recently Smith et alP21 have also reported the novel nitration systems comprising nitric acid, trifluoroacetic anhydride and zeolite HBeta, with or without acetic anhydride for the nitration of deactivated aromatic compounds such as... 

HMordenite, HFaujasite-780, HFaujasite 720 and Na-Faujasite zeolites. Among the different catalysts, HFaujasite-720 was the most active and selective catalyst towards 2,4-dinitrotoluene, achieving a yield of dinitrotoluenes of 92 % with a ratio of 2,4- to 2,6- isomers of 4.3 1 in 3 min reaction time. Using this zeolite, l-chloro-2-nitrobenzene and pyrazole were also nitrated regioselectively to obtain l-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene in a l-chloro-2,4-dinitro l-chloro-2,6-dinitro ratio of 30 1, and 1,4-dinitropyrazole in 80% yield, respectively. The authors proposed a nitration mechanism in which the protons in the zeolite are replaced by nitronium ions derived from N2Os in a fast pre-equilibrium process. This produces active sites for transfer of nitronium ion from faujasite to aromatic in the rate-controlling step. 

Recently Milczak et al.[57] have reported the nitration of o-xylene using 100% nitric acid over silica supported metal oxide solid acid catalysts with high yields (up to 90 %) but low selectivity to 4-o-NX (40-57 %). Choudary et a/. 5X 591 performed the nitration of o-xylene and other aromatic hydrocarbons by azeotropic removal of water over modified clay catalysts achieving low yields of 4-o-NX and a selectivity of 52%. Better results were obtained when HBeta zeolite was used as catalyst, performing the reaction in dichloromethane at reflux temperature.[60] Conversions of 40 % and maximum selectivity 68 % of 4-o-NX were obtained. Similar conversions and higher selectivities for 4-o-NX (65-75 %) were reported by Rao et al M 1 using a nanocrystaUine HBeta sample and working at 90 °C in the absence of solvent. 

Haouas, M., Kogelbauer, A. and Prins, R. The effect of flexible lattice aluminum in zeolites during the nitration of aromatics, Stud. Surf. Sci. Catal., 2001, 135, 2113-2120. 

Esakkidurai, T., Kumarraja, M. and Pitchumani, K. Regioselective nitration of aromatic substrates in zeolite cages, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., Chem. Sci., 2003, 115, 113-121. 

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