GB1602669A - Production of phenols - Google Patents

Production of phenols Download PDF

Info

Publication number
GB1602669A
GB1602669A GB24190/78A GB2419078A GB1602669A GB 1602669 A GB1602669 A GB 1602669A GB 24190/78 A GB24190/78 A GB 24190/78A GB 2419078 A GB2419078 A GB 2419078A GB 1602669 A GB1602669 A GB 1602669A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
process according
catalyst
alkali metal
aromatic carboxylic
benzoic acid
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
GB24190/78A
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
CB&I Technology Inc
Original Assignee
Lummus Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Lummus Co filed Critical Lummus Co
Publication of GB1602669A publication Critical patent/GB1602669A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01JCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
    • B01J23/00Catalysts comprising metals or metal oxides or hydroxides, not provided for in group B01J21/00
    • B01J23/70Catalysts comprising metals or metal oxides or hydroxides, not provided for in group B01J21/00 of the iron group metals or copper
    • B01J23/76Catalysts comprising metals or metal oxides or hydroxides, not provided for in group B01J21/00 of the iron group metals or copper combined with metals, oxides or hydroxides provided for in groups B01J23/02 - B01J23/36
    • B01J23/78Catalysts comprising metals or metal oxides or hydroxides, not provided for in group B01J21/00 of the iron group metals or copper combined with metals, oxides or hydroxides provided for in groups B01J23/02 - B01J23/36 with alkali- or alkaline earth metals
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07CACYCLIC OR CARBOCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
    • C07C37/00Preparation of compounds having hydroxy or O-metal groups bound to a carbon atom of a six-membered aromatic ring
    • C07C37/50Preparation of compounds having hydroxy or O-metal groups bound to a carbon atom of a six-membered aromatic ring by reactions decreasing the number of carbon atoms
    • C07C37/56Preparation of compounds having hydroxy or O-metal groups bound to a carbon atom of a six-membered aromatic ring by reactions decreasing the number of carbon atoms by replacing a carboxyl or aldehyde group by a hydroxy group
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02PCLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
    • Y02P20/00Technologies relating to chemical industry
    • Y02P20/50Improvements relating to the production of bulk chemicals
    • Y02P20/52Improvements relating to the production of bulk chemicals using catalysts, e.g. selective catalysts

Landscapes

  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Organic Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds And Preparation Thereof (AREA)
  • Low-Molecular Organic Synthesis Reactions Using Catalysts (AREA)
  • Catalysts (AREA)

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO THE PRODUCTION OF PHENOLS (71) We, THE LUMMUS COMPANY, of 1515 Broad Street, Bloomfield, New Jersey 07003, United States of America, a Company organised and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, United States of America, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention relates to the production of phenols, and more particularly to the oxidation of aromatic carboxylic acids to phenols.
In U.S. Patent Specification Nos. 2,727,026 and 2,852,567, there are described processes for producing phenols from aromatic carboxylic acids which employ a catalyst including copper oxide. The present invention is directed to an improved process for oxidising an aromatic carboxylic acid to a phenol.
According to the present invention there is provided a process for catalytically oxidizing an aromatic carboxylic acid, being benzoic acid or an alkyl-substituted benzoic acid, to the corresponding phenol, the process comprising the steps of: contacting said aromatic carboxylic acid with oxygen and steam in the presence of a catalyst at a temperature of from 200"C to 4000 C and at a pressure of from 2 to 20 atmospheres, with an oxygen to carboxyl group mole ratio of from 0.2:1 to 10:1, and a steam to carboxyl group mole ratio of from 5:1 to 500:1, said catalyst comprising copper, zirconium and an alkali metal all in an oxidised state wherein the copper:zirconium:alkali metal atomic ratio is from 1:0.2 to 0.5:0.5 to 2.5.
The alkali metal is preferably sodium, potassium or lithium.
The catalyst is referred to as being copper, zirconium and an alkali metal, all in an oxidised state, and such catalyst contains such metals and oxygen. The metals may be present as a mixture of the oxides of copper, zirconium and an alkali metal or as a complex thereof, and such terminology encompasses such mixtures and complexes.
More particularly, the catalyst of the oxidised copper, zirconium and alkali metal can be employed in the absence or presence of a suitable support material.
Thus, for example, the catalyst may be in the form of pellets or extrudates, or supported on a support material preferably having a surface area of no greater than 50 m2/g; preferably cr-alumina.
The catalyst includes the three components in an amount effective to catalyse the oxidation of an aromatic carboxylic acid.to the corresponding phenol.
The catalyst may be prepared by a variety of procedures known in the art.
Thus, for example, the catalyst can be supported on a suitable support by an impregnation or a spray drying technique. Alternatively, the three catalyst components can be produced in the form of pellets or extrudates. In preparing supported catalyst by impregnation, for example, water soluble salts of zirconium and copper, such as the nitrates, are dissolved in water and the solution employed to impregnate a suitable support, such as alpha-alumina.
The impregnated support is dried and calcined to oxidise the copper and zirconium. The resulting catalyst is then treated with an aqueous solution of an alkali metal salt, e.g. the hydroxide, followed by drying and calcination to effect oxidation.
In a process in accordance with the present invention, for the oxidation of an aromatic carboxylic acid to the corresponding phenol. The aromatic nucleus may include more than one carboxyl substituent group or may include other substituent groups, such as alkyl or halo. The preferred starting materials are the mono carboxylic acids of benzene and alkyl benzenes. If the starting material is an alkyl substituted benzoic acid the product will be a cresol, whereas if the starting material is merely benzoic acid the product will be phenol.
The oxidation is effected with molecular oxygen which can be provided as such or in admixture with other gases; e.g. as air. The oxygen is employed in at least stoichiometric proportions; however, lesser or greater amounts could be employed.
In general, oxygen is employed in an amount to provide an oxygen to carboxyl groups mole ratio of from 0.2:1 to 10:1, and preferably from 0.5:1 to 5:1.
The reaction is generally effected in the vapour phase in the presence of steam as a diluent. The steam also functions to minimise the production of esters that result from the reaction of the carboxylic acid and the product phenol. The steam is generally provided in an amount corresponding to a steam/carboxyl group mole ratio of 5:1 to 500:1 and preferably 10:1 to 100:1.
The oxidation is effected at temperatures of from 200 to 4000C, and preferably from 250 to 3500C.
The catalytic oxidation can be readily effected by the use of any one of a wide variety of vapour-solid contact systems, e.g., employing the catalyst as a fixed or fluidised bed or in a transfer line type of contact system. The above means for effecting the reaction and others should be apparent to those skilled in the art from the present teachings.
The invention will be further described with respect to the following examples: EXAMPLE I Production of Catalyst 12.0 g (0.05 mol) Cu(NO3)2 . 3H2O and 18.0 g (0.025 mol) ZrO(NO3)2 . 5H2O were dissolved in 30 g of water and heated to 7e80"C. The solution was used to impregnate 100 g of a low surface area alpha-alumina (Carborundum SAHT 99, 48 mesh). The wet catalyst was dried and calcined at 7500C for two hours, during which time the nitrates decomposed to their corresponding oxides. This catalyst (100 g) was treated with a solution of 4.3 g (0.077 mol) KOH in 30 g of water. The resulting catalyst was dried and calcined at 5000C for approximately 16 hours. The finished catalyst had the following composition (wt.%): 4.0% CuO, 3.0% ZrO2, 3.6% K2O remainder alumina.
EXAMPLE II The activity and selectivity of the catalyst in Example I for producing phenol from benzoic acid were measured in a fixed bed reactor. The reactor was a jacketed l'xl" dia. 316 stainless steel tube. Boiling Dowtherm was used in the jacket for temperature control. ["Dowtherm" is a Trade Mark'?]. The feed was prepared by metering water through a heater at reactor pressure, passing the steam so produced through a benzoic acid saturator maintained at a temperature required to give the desired benzoic acid/water ratio, and then mixing this stream with the desired amount of air. The reactor contained 60 g of catalyst. Operating conditions and results are given in Table I.
TABLE I Feed Composition Selectivities, mole % Run Time, (mole ratio) Space Velocity, Space Yield, Diphenyl Temp. C Press. psig hrs. COOH H2O (air)O2 GHSV (STP), hr-1 Conversion % g/g cat/hr. Benzene Phenol oxide 280-310 90-100 3.0 1 38 0.6 2630 35.1 0.0816 2.3 76.1 5.4 280-310 120 3.0 1 74 1.5 2200 63.7 0.0487 2.0 69.1 2.7 300-305 105 2.5 1 33 1.2 2600 32.6 0.0725 4.0 82.2 - The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been found to be particularly advantageous in that they provide for improved selectivity In addition. they provide a more economic method for converting aromatic carboxylic acids to phenols. This advantage derives from: (1) Lower cost reactor system (vapour phase vs. liquid phase molten salt reactor).
(2) Elimination of a difficult to dispose of waste stream. The conventional process must draw off a slip stream from the molten mass to maintain catalyst activity. This slip stream contains heavy metals and organics which cannot be simply incinerated for disposal.
(3) Waste heat recovery. The reaction is highly exothermic. The vapour phase reaction is conducted in a temperature range approximately 100"C higher than the liquid phase reaction, making it possible to recover the heat of reaction (e.g., as high pressure steam) at a more efficient temperature level.
(4) The potential for higher yields when producing alkyl-substituted phenols (e.g. cresols). These are less volatile than phenol and, therefore, are more difficult to strip out of a liquid phase. It is well known that if the phenols are not removed from the liquid phase, they will further react and ultimately produce tars.

Claims (10)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:
1. A process for catalytically oxidising an aromatic carboxylic acid, being benzoic acid or an alkyl-substituted benzoic acid, to the corresponding phenol, the process comprising the steps of: contacting said aromatic carboxylic acid with oxygen and steam in the presence of a catalyst at a temperature of from 200"C to 400"C and at a pressure of from 2 to 20 atmospheres, with an oxygen to carboxyl group mole ratio of from 0.2:1 to 10:1, and a steam to carboxyl group mole ratio of from 5:1 to 500:1, said catalyst comprising copper, zirconium and an alkali metal all in an oxidised state wherein the copper: zirconium: alkali metal atomic ratio is from 1:0.2 to 0.5:0.5 to 2.5.
2. A process according to claim 1 wherein the catalyst comprises a support having a surface area of no greater than 50 m2/g.
3. A process according to claim 2, wherein the support is a-alumina.
4. A process according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the alkali metal is sodium.
5. A process according to any one of claims I to 3 wherein the alkali metal is potassium.
6. A process according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the alkali metal is lithium.
7. A process according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the aromatic carboxylic acid is an alkyl-substituted benzoic acid, the product being a cresol.
8. A process according to any one of claims I to 6 wherein the aromatic carboxylic acid is benzoic acid, the product being phenol.
9. A process according to claim I and substantially as herein described in Example II.
10. A phenol when made by a process according to any one of the preceding claims.
GB24190/78A 1977-11-21 1978-05-30 Production of phenols Expired GB1602669A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US85304077A 1977-11-21 1977-11-21

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB1602669A true GB1602669A (en) 1981-11-11

Family

ID=25314866

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB24190/78A Expired GB1602669A (en) 1977-11-21 1978-05-30 Production of phenols

Country Status (9)

Country Link
JP (1) JPS5920384B2 (en)
AU (1) AU520114B2 (en)
CA (1) CA1098888A (en)
DE (1) DE2844195C2 (en)
FI (1) FI64751C (en)
FR (1) FR2409086A1 (en)
GB (1) GB1602669A (en)
IT (1) IT1106056B (en)
NL (1) NL7810528A (en)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3165748D1 (en) * 1980-05-16 1984-10-04 Stamicarbon Method for the preparation of substituted or unsubstituted phenol and catalysts therefor
US4390736A (en) * 1980-11-26 1983-06-28 Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited Process for producing phenols

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ES291802A1 (en) * 1962-09-21 1964-03-01 Shell International Res Maatschappij N V Procedure for converting aromatic carbºxilic acids in phenolic compounds (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
IT1106056B (en) 1985-11-11
DE2844195A1 (en) 1979-05-23
AU520114B2 (en) 1982-01-14
NL7810528A (en) 1979-05-23
FR2409086B3 (en) 1981-09-04
FI64751B (en) 1983-09-30
IT7851770A0 (en) 1978-11-03
DE2844195C2 (en) 1985-02-14
JPS5920384B2 (en) 1984-05-12
JPS5472789A (en) 1979-06-11
FR2409086A1 (en) 1979-06-15
FI783262A (en) 1979-05-22
FI64751C (en) 1984-01-10
AU3992978A (en) 1980-03-27
CA1098888A (en) 1981-04-07

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US4328373A (en) Method of preparing aldehydes
US4460706A (en) Catalyst for the production of styrene
EP0019476B1 (en) Catalyst and process for producing ortho-methyl substituted phenols using it
US2627527A (en) Oxidation of olefins to alkenals
US6297406B1 (en) Production of phenol
US4051180A (en) Preparation of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid
PL83243B1 (en)
JP2997039B2 (en) Selective monoepoxidation of styrene, styrene analogs and styrene derivatives to the corresponding oxides with molecular oxygen
US4297287A (en) Production of epoxides from lower alkane-1,2-diols
GB1602669A (en) Production of phenols
US4333858A (en) Catalyst with Mo, V, Ti and process
US4277630A (en) Catalyst and process for producing aromatic hydroxy compounds
US4335258A (en) Process for producing methacrylic acid
Huang et al. Catalytic condensation of formaldehyde and methyl formate over 12-tungstosilicic compounds
EP0146099A2 (en) A process for producing acrylic acid by oxidation of acrolein and a novel catalyst useful thereof
US2952703A (en) Manufacture of benzoic acid
US4039476A (en) Oxidative dehydrogenation catalysts
US4567157A (en) Production of phenols and catalyst therefor
JP3129547B2 (en) Method for producing glycolate
US4894467A (en) Vapor phase oxidation or styrene to styrene oxide
KR820002004B1 (en) Process for preparation of phenol
US4427792A (en) Iron-phosphorus mixed oxide catalysts and process for their preparation
US4620043A (en) Production of phenols and catalyst therefor
US4320031A (en) Catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation of alkenes or alkadienes to furan compounds
US4280959A (en) Oxidative dehydrogenation of alkenes or alkadienes to furan compounds

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PS Patent sealed [section 19, patents act 1949]
PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee