Process for the synthesis of ethylene glycol

A process for the production of ethylene glycol from CO2, comprising the steps of:

• i) reducing CO2 to CO;
• ii) reacting the CO produced in step i) with an amine to form an oxamide or an oxamate or with an alcohol to form an oxalate;
• and
• iii) reducing the oxamide, oxamate or oxalate formed in step ii) to formethylene glycol.

A process for the production of an oxamide, oxamate or oxalate, comprising the step of:

• reacting CO with an amine to form an oxamide or an oxamate or with an alcohol to form an oxalate under flow conditions,
• optionally wherein this reaction is performed:
• in the presence of a supported homogeneous catalyst, preferably wherein the supported homogeneous catalyst comprises a support and a metal centre coordinated to one or more ligands, wherein the metal centre is bound to the support via one or more of the ligands and wherein the ligand which is bound to the support comprises a phosphorous atom which is bound to the metal centre and/or wherein the metal centre is palladium and/or wherein the support comprises silica, alumina, a transition metal oxide, a polymer, carbon or mixtures thereof, or
• in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst, preferably wherein the heterogeneous catalyst comprises a metal supported on a solid support, in particular wherein the metal is a Group VIII to XI metal and/or wherein the support comprises silica, alumina, a transition metal oxide, a polymer, carbon or mixtures thereof, or
• in the presence of a homogeneous catalyst, preferably wherein the homogeneous catalyst comprises a metal centre coordinated to one or more ligands.

A process for the production of ethylene glycol comprising the steps of:

• reacting CO with an amine to form an oxamide or an oxamate or with an alcohol to form an oxalate under flow conditions;
• and
• reducing the oxamide, oxamate or oxalate to form ethylene glycol, optionally wherein the first step is performed:
• in the presence of a supported homogeneous catalyst, preferably wherein the supported homogeneous catalyst comprises a support and a metal centre coordinated to one or more ligands, wherein the metal centre is bound to the support via one or more of the ligands and wherein the ligand which is bound to the support comprises a phosphorous atom which is bound to the metal centre and/or wherein the metal centre is palladium and/or wherein the support comprises silica, alumina, a transition metal oxide, a polymer, carbon or mixtures thereof, or
• in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst, preferably wherein the heterogeneous catalyst comprises a metal supported on a solid support, in particular wherein the metal is a Group VIII to XI metal and/or wherein the support comprises silica, alumina, a transition metal oxide, a polymer, carbon or mixtures thereof, or
• in the presence of a homogeneous catalyst, preferably wherein the homogeneous catalyst comprises a metal centre coordinated to one or more ligands,
• and/or wherein the second step is a catalytic hydrogenation or wherein the catalyst used in the catalytic hydrogenation comprises one or more metals from Groups VIII to XI,
• preferably a metal selected from silver, iron, ruthenium, rhodium, nickel, palladium, platinum and/or copper.

A process for the production of polyethylene terephthalate, comprising:

• a) producing ethylene glycol according to the process of claim 1 or the following steps of:
• reacting CO with an amine to form an oxamide or an oxamate or with an alcohol to form an oxalate under flow conditions;
• and
• reducing the oxamide, oxamate or oxalate to form ethylene glycol, optionally wherein the first step is performed:
• in the presence of a supported homogeneous catalyst, preferably wherein the supported homogeneous catalyst comprises a support and a metal centre coordinated to one or more ligands, wherein the metal centre is bound to the support via one or more of the ligands and wherein the ligand which is bound to the support comprises a phosphorous atom which is bound to the metal centre and/or wherein the metal centre is palladium and/or wherein the support comprises silica, alumina, a transition metal oxide, a polymer, carbon or mixtures thereof, or
• in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst, preferably wherein the heterogeneous catalyst comprises a metal supported on a solid support, in particular wherein the metal is a Group VIII to XI metal and/or wherein the support comprises silica, alumina, a transition metal oxide, a polymer, carbon or mixtures thereof, or
• in the presence of a homogeneous catalyst, preferably wherein the homogeneous catalyst comprises a metal centre coordinated to one or more ligands, and
• b) polymerising the ethylene glycol produced in step a) with terephthalic acid or a terephthalate di-ester to produce polyethylene terephthalate.