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US 5,144,068 AGranted
Methanol carbonylation process
AssigneeHoechst Celanese Corporation
InventorsBrad L. Smith, G. Paull Torrence, Adolfo Aguilo, James S. Alder
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AssigneeHoechst Celanese Corporation
InventorsBrad L. Smith, G. Paull Torrence, Adolfo Aguilo, James S. Alder
Estimating the term…
An alcohol such as methanol is reacted with carbon monoxide in a liquid reaction medium containing a rhodium catalyst stabilized with an iodide salt, especially lithium iodide, along with alkyl iodide such as methyl iodide and alkyl acetate such as methyl acetate in specified proportions. With a finite concentration of water in the reaction medium the product is the carboxylic acid instead of, for example, the anhydride. The present reaction system not only provides an acid product of unusually low water content at unexpectedly favorable reaction rates but also, whether the water content is low or, as in the case of prior-art acetic acid technology, relatively high, is characterized by unexpectedly high catalyst stability; i.e., it is resistant to catalyst precipitation out of the reaction medium.
In a process for producing acetic acid by reacting methanol with carbon monoxide in a liquid reaction medium containing a rhodium catalyst and comprising water, acetic acid, methyl iodide, and methyl acetate and subsequently recovering acetic acid from the resulting reaction product, the improvement which comprises:
In a process for producing acetic acid by reacting methanol with carbon monoxide in a liquid reaction medium containing a rhodium catalyst and comprising water, acetic acid, methyl iodide, and methyl acetate and subsequently recovering acetic acid from the resulting reaction produce, the improvement which comprises:
The process of claims 12, 17 or 18 comprising maintaining in said reaction medium during the course of said reaction 10 to 20 wt.% of said catalyst stabilizer, 10 to 16 wt.% of said methyl iodide and 0.5 to 5 wt.% of said methyl acetate, with the balance consisting essentially of acetic acid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.