Synthesis of alpha,omega-dicarboxylic acids and esters thereof from unsaturated fatty acid derivatives
AssigneeEvonik Degussa GmbH
InventorsPeter Hannen, Harald Haeger, Martin Roos
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for preparing an alpha, omega-dicarboxylic acid or an ester thereof, which includes (a) subjecting at least one unsaturated fatty acid or fatty acid derivative to ozonolysis to obtain an ozonolysis reaction mixture; and (b) oxidizing the ozonolysis reaction mixture with an oxidizing agent in the presence of an acid catalyst to obtain an oxidized reaction mixture comprising at least one alpha, omega-dicarboxylic acid or ester; wherein the process is performed using a solvent and the acid catalyst has a pKa of less than or equal to zero, as measured at 25° C.
Claims14
A process for preparing an alpha, omega-dicarboxylic acid or an ester thereof, the process comprising:
- (a) preparing a solution of at least one unsaturated fatty acid or fatty acid derivative in an aliphatic carboxylic acid and water mixture wherein the content of water is at least a stoichiometric amount of water relative to the number of double bonds of the fatty acid or fatty acid derivative to be oxidized;
- (b) subjecting the unsaturated fatty acid or fatty acid derivative solution to ozonolysis to obtain an ozonolysis reaction mixture;
- (c) adding a catalytic amount of an acid having a pKa of less than or equal to zero, measured at 25° C., to the ozonolysis reaction mixture following completion of the ozonolysis without workup;
- and
- (d) oxidizing the ozonolysis reaction mixture with an oxidizing agent to obtain an oxidized reaction mixture comprising at least one alpha, omega-dicarboxylic acid or ester thereof;
- wherein
- the acid with a pKa of less than or equal to zero, measured at 25° C., comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and perchloric acid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.