Principles of phenol and acetone production by cumene method part 2. Oxidation of cumene and cleavage of cumene hydroperoxide

摘要

A review with 11 refs. covering the reactions and the processes (Fig. 1) of oxidation of cumene (I) with air and (i) cleavage of cumene hydroperoxide (II) (a 90% II solution containing 2-phenyl-2-propanol (III), acetophenone, and #alpha#-methylstyrene (IV) with conc. H_2SO_4 at the acid and the II concentrations in the reaction mixture (60 deg C) of 0.1% and (1:30 w/w) 90% II-cleavage products, resp. and (ii) in acetone as solvent. Process (ii) offers a shorter reaction time and less by - products than does (i). Phenol tars (from decomposition of III, polymerization of IV, and condensation of IV with PhOH) can be (a) used to make phenol-formaldehyde resins, (b) coked and oxidized to yield coke and bituminous materials, (c) distilled to yield PhOH, acetophenone, cumylphenol, and IV, and (d) catalytically thermolyzed to yield PhOH and cumene. H_2SO_4 as catalyst and the resulting salts are environmentally disfavorable. Solid acid catalysts and middle-and llarge-pored #beta#-zeolites (e.g. ZSM-5), aluminosilicates, and montmorillonite clays treated with mineral acids, heteropolyacids or certain Lewis acids, are preferable but so far not applied practically.