Photochlorination of partially chlorinated chloromethane to carbon tetrachloride

Abstract

To provide an industrial process for the efficient synthesis of carbon tetrachloride, and a method for producing chlorinated organic compounds using carbon tetrachloride obtained from the process. [Solution] A method for producing carbon tetrachloride, comprising: preparing a chloromethane stream; combining the chloromethane stream with chlorine and additional carbon tetrachloride to form a reaction mixture, wherein this reaction mixture contains at least stoichiometric levels of chlorine; introducing electromagnetic radiation into the reaction mixture; subjecting the reaction mixture to appropriate reaction conditions to form the product carbon tetrachloride; and collecting the product stream containing the product carbon tetrachloride. A method for further reacting the obtained carbon tetrachloride with an olefin to produce a chlorinated organic compound.

Claims

1. A method for producing carbon tetrachloride, and subsequently producing a chlorinated organic compound, (i) A step of preparing a chloromethane stream containing 99.5 to 100% by weight of chloroform, initial carbon tetrachloride, methyl chloride, and methylene chloride, wherein the chloromethane stream contains less than 5,000 ppm of chlorinated organic compound components other than methyl chloride, methylene chloride, chloroform, and initial carbon tetrachloride. (ii) The step of combining the chloromethane stream with chlorine and additional carbon tetrachloride to form a reaction mixture containing at least a stoichiometric amount of chlorine relative to the methyl chloride, methylene chloride, and chloroform, and in which the concentrations of the methyl chloride, methylene chloride, and chloroform are 100 ppm by weight to 20,000 ppm by weight, (iii) The step of introducing electromagnetic radiation into the reaction mixture and subjecting the reaction mixture to conditions suitable for reacting the methyl chloride, methylene chloride, and chloroform with chlorine to form the product carbon tetrachloride from the reaction mixture, (iv) After step (iii), a step of collecting the product flow, (v) The step of reacting the carbon tetrachloride in the product stream with the olefin by combining the product stream with an olefin, Includes, The step between step (iv) and step (v) does not include a step of removing the organic compound from the product stream. method.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the olefin comprises ethylene or vinyl chloride, the catalyst comprises iron, and the chelating agent comprises tributyl phosphate.

3. The electromagnetic radiation has wavelengths extending to a 30 nm band and is supplied by a light-emitting diode. The method according to claim 1.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of combining the chloromethane stream with chlorine comprises supplying the chlorine in a molar excess of at least 5% to less than 40% relative to the sum of the methyl chloride, methylene chloride, and chloroform.

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