Unsaturated Alcohol Purification for Nitrogen-Safe Aldehyde Oxidation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing processes struggle with the reliable purification of ethylenically unsaturated alcohols from trace amounts of organically bound nitrogen, which can poison oxidation catalysts and lead to undesired side reactions, making it difficult to prepare ethylenically unsaturated aldehydes effectively.
Innovation Solution
A process involving the use of a weakly acidic solid adsorbent to remove organically bound nitrogen from ethylenically unsaturated alcohol streams, followed by oxidation with a catalytically active metal catalyst to produce ethylenically unsaturated aldehydes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If oxidation catalysts are used to prepare ethylenically unsaturated aldehydes from ethylenically unsaturated alcohols, then conversion and selectivity are achieved, but organically bound nitrogen impurities poison the catalyst and reduce its activity and lifetime
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by removing organically bound nitrogen impurities from the ethylenically unsaturated alcohol feed stream before it contacts the oxidation catalyst. This pre-treatment step prevents catalyst poisoning before it occurs, ensuring the catalyst maintains its activity and lifetime throughout the oxidation reaction to produce ethylenically unsaturated aldehydes.
2Ease of manufacture
If organically bound nitrogen is present in the alcohol stream, then the alcohol can be processed, but undesired side reactions occur and catalyst performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by removing the harmful organically bound nitrogen components from the ethylenically unsaturated alcohol stream. This separation step extracts the impurities that cause side reactions and catalyst deactivation, allowing the main alcohol component to be processed efficiently without the harmful effects of nitrogen-containing compounds.
3Reliability
If the alcohol stream is purified to remove nitrogen impurities, then catalyst activity is enhanced, but additional processing steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs porous adsorbent materials to remove organically bound nitrogen impurities from the ethylenically unsaturated alcohol stream. These porous materials provide high surface area and adsorption capacity, enabling effective purification in a single processing step rather than requiring multiple sequential purification operations, thus enhancing catalyst activity without significantly increasing device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The process effectively removes organically bound nitrogen, enhancing catalyst activity and selectivity in subsequent oxidation reactions, leading to improved conversion and selectivity of ethylenically unsaturated aldehydes.
Implementation Method 1
contacting the alcohol stream with a weakly acidic solid adsorbent
Implementation Method 2
oxidation of alcohols using oxygen or air as oxidant
Implementation Method 3
in the presence of an oxidant and a catalytically active metal catalyst
Data Source
AI summary
Organically bound nitrogen is removed from an ethylenically unsaturated alcohol stream by contacting the alcohol stream with a weakly acidic solid adsorbent. Trace amounts of organically bound nitrogen tend to poison the oxidation catalyst in subsequent oxidation processes using the ethylenically unsaturated alcohol stream.