Process for preparing caprolactam and polyamides therefrom
AssigneeAmyris, Inc.
InventorsLaetitia Coudray, Vu Bui, John W. Frost, Dirk Schweitzer
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Abstract
Provided herein are processes for preparing caprolactam from a starting material such as one or more of the cis,cis-, cis,trans- and trans,trans-double-bond isomers of muconamide, muconic acid ester, or muconic acid. The starting material, intermediates, and caprolactam prepared therefrom can contain carbon atoms derived from biomass containing detectable 14C content determined according to ASTM D6866 and optionally containing a 14C content up to 0.0000000001% (one part per trillion). Caprolactam so prepared can be used to make various polyamides.
Claims58
A process for preparing caprolactam of formula 1, comprising:
- reacting one or more of cis, cis-, cis, trans- and trans,trans-muconic acid (Q,Q-MA), directly or after converting into an intermediate product, with ammonia and hydrogen, in the presence of a catalyst;
- and
- forming caprolactam therefrom.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.