(10) Patent No.: US 6420304 B1
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USOO6420304B1 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 6,420,304 B1 Tsai et al. (45) Date of Patent: Jul. 16, 2002 (54) POLYMER-SUPPORTED CARBONYLATION 5,364.963 A 11/1994 Minami et al. ............. 502/326 CATALYST AND ITS USE 5,442,107 A * 8/1995 Beevor et al. 5,455.874 A * 10/1995 Ormsby et al. ............. 358/433 (75) Inventors: Chia-Jung Tsai, Yao-Lung Liu, both 5,466,874. A * 11/1995 Scates et al. of Kaohsiung, Hsi-Chin Tsai, Chiya-Yi, 6,066,762 A * 5/2000 Yoneda et al. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 562/517 all of (TW) FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS (73) Assignee: China Petrochemical Development EP O277824 * 10/1988 Corporation, Taipei (TW) * cited by examiner (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this Primary Examiner Paul J. Killos patent is extended or adjusted under 35 ASSistant Examiner Robert W. Deemie U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Bacon & Thomas (57) ABSTRACT (21) Appl. No.: 09/553,054 The invention relates to a polymer-Supported carbonylation (22) Filed: Apr. 20, 2000 catalyst and its use in a process for preparing organic (51) Int. Cl."7 .......................... B01J 21/02; CO7C 51/14 carboxvlicy acid or anhvdridey having9. n+1 carbon atoms. The s CO7C 51/56s invention relates also to a pprocess for preparing Orgorganic carboxylic acid or anhydride having n+1 carbon atoms by (52) U.S. Cl. ....................... 502/207; 502/105; 502/151; carbonylating with monoxide, in the presence of the above 502/152; 502/159; 502/200; 502/313; 562/518; mentioned carbonylation catalyst, on alcohols having in 562/517; 562/497; 562/606; 562/607; 562/890; carbon atoms, ethers having 2n carbon atoms or esters 562/891; 562/519 formed from Said alcohols and acids. In particular, the (58) Field of Search ................................. 502/105,151, invention relates to a proceSS for preparing acetic acid by 502/152, 200, 159, 207,513; 562/519, carbonylating methanol with carbon monooxide in the pres 518, 517,497,606, 607, 890, 891 ence of Said carbonylation catalyst. By using Said carbony lation catalyst, the temperature for carbonylation can be (56) References Cited lowered to about 160° C. with a reaction rate better than that U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS of a traditional process, while the tendency of catalyst precipitation in the course of carbonylation can be improved 3.652,678 A 3/1972 Allum et al. also. The proceSS can be operated normally as the concen 3,769,329 A * 10/1973 Paulik et al. tration of rhodium increased to up to Several thousand ppm. 3.987,009 A * 10/1976 Young 3,998.887. A * 12/1976 Allen Further, a comparable reaction rate can be achieved in the 4,100,359 A * 7/1978 Schmerling et al. absence of water and hydroiodic acid, whereby the corrosion 4.325,834. A * 4/1982 Bartish et al. problem of the equipment and promotion of production 4,690,912 A * 9/1987 Paulik et al. capacity can be improved significantly. 4,733,006 A * 3/1988 Singelton et al. 5,001,259 A * 3/1991 Smith et al. 36 Claims, No Drawings US 6,420,304 B1 1 2 POLYMER-SUPPORTED CARBONYLATION 2. HOOC-Y-COOH and CATALYST AND ITS USE HOOC-Y Y-COOH V BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION N-Y-N M V The invention relates to a polymer-Supported carbonyla HOOC-Y, Ys-COOH tion catalyst and its use in a proceSS for preparing organic carboxylic acids or anhydrides having n +1 carbon atoms. where: Y=(CXX),m=2-10 YYYYs=(CXX), n= 2-10 The invention relates also to a process for preparing 1O organic carboxylic acids or anhydrides having n +1 carbon R1 R4 atoms by reacting, in the presence of the above-mentioned Y R / carbonylation catalyst, an alcohol having in carbon atoms, an / -k- V ether having 2n carbon atoms or an ester formed from Said R2 R5 alcohol and acid with carbon monoxide. In particular, the 15 invention relates to a proceSS for preparing acetic acid by Where: reacting methanol with carbon monoxide in the presence of R,R,R, and Rs is an alkyl or an aralkyl having 1-20 Said carbonylation catalyst. carbon atoms, The most commonly known process for preparing acetic R,R,Rs is an alkyl or an alkaryl having 6–20 carbon acid up to date has been the process described by Paulik et atOmS al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,769,329 and 4,690,912. That process Rais a polymethylene group having 1-3 carbon atoms. comprised Synthesizing acetic acid through a carbonylation U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,259 described the use of inorganic reaction of carbon monoxide and methanol in the presence iodides LiI as the stabilizer for the rhodium catalyst in the of a rhodium catalyst at a temperature of 180° C., and a carbonylation of methanol to improve the precipitation of carbon monoxide pressure of 35-70kg/cm’ as well as using 25 the rhodium catalyst under low water content, and obtained methyl iodide as promoter. These patents disclosed that the a reaction rate almost equal to that under high water content most effective Solvent for the production reaction of acetic (14 wt.%). The same patent used also a quaternary ammo acid was the product, acetic acid, itself. Its main advantages nium Salt, N-methyl-picolinium iodide, under low water were that the catalyst had very high conversion and Selec content to increase the reaction rate of carbonylation. tivity (>95%), had a relatively long service life, and could be However, according to the result of the experiment, the recycled almost completely to the reactor. However, water N-methyl-picolinium iodide tended to form a hardly soluble content in those reaction System should be maintained at complex with Rh that precipitated from the reaction Solu least higher than 14-15 wt.% in order to prevent the rhodium tion. The nitrogen- containing compound, catalyst from precipitation and keep a relatively high reac N-methylimidazole, mentioned in EP 1538341 tended also tion rate. Such high water content would increase the cost of 35 to form a hardly soluble complex with Rh that precipitated equipment used in the purification proceSS and consume from the reaction Solution of carbonylation of methanol. considerable energy that it becomes So-called a “high water In U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,107, six types of heterocyclic content carbonylation process. nitrogen compounds were employed as the catalyst Stabilizer for the carbonylation of methanol under low water content: Thereafter, there have been a number of patents proposing 40 improved methods with respect to this acetic acid process. 2-ethyl-4-methylimidazole The main objective of those patents was aimed at increasing 4-methylimidazole the stability of the rhodium catalyst under low water content 4-tert-butylpyridine (<14 wt.%) in order to alleviate the corrosion problem of 2-hydroxypyridine moisture reaction to the equipment and also reduce largely 45 3-hydroxypynidine the energy consumption during isolation and purification of 6. 4-hydroxypyridine. the product. Namely, they were developed toward a “low However, this patent did not disclose the effect of the water content” carbonylation process. Their main additive used on the reaction rate under low water content. approaches comprised of (1) incorporating inorganic or No alkyl pyridine was mentioned in that patent. Further, organic salts as additives in the reaction medium, (2) using 50 those catalyst Stabilizers used in that patent were similar to Supported catalyst by combing the rhodium catalyst with a those organic compounds mentioned in the prior art, i.e., polymer, active carbon or ion exchange resin, and (3) using picoline and N-methylimidazole, in that they tended to form both of (1) and (2). a hardly soluble complex with Rh which precipitated from U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,006 disclosed the use of an inorganic the reaction Solution of carbonylation of methanol under low salt XOAc (X=Li".Na".K) as additives. However, it did not 55 water content. These suggest that, if OH and tert-butyl were teach the effect of these inorganic Salts on the reaction rate present on pyridine, there would be a Significant effect of throughout the entire disclosure. EP 55618 disclosed a reducing the precipitation of the rhodium catalyst from the technique to reduce the precipitation of the rhodium catalyst reaction Solution of carbonylation of methanol under low due to low water content during the carbonylation of metha water content. On the other hand, if no Substituent was on nol by adding an organic catalyst Stabilizer in the reaction 60 pyridine or the Substituent was a methyl group, Such effect Solution. Stabilizers used in that patent comprised Several would be insignificant. Furthermore, the prior art has not types of organic compounds containing, concurrently or mentioned or indicated that other pyridine derivatives hav individually, one or more nitrogen or phosphorus atom, or ing Substituents other than OH or alkyl had the effect of carboxyl group (COOH): reducing precipitation of the rhodium catalyst during the 65 carbonylation of methanol under low water content. 1. N.N,N',N'-btetramethyl-o-phenylenediamine and Moreover, techniques that used complexes having a Sup 2,3'-dipyridyl ported Structure formed by coordinating an organic polymer US 6,420,304 B1 3 4 with rhodium to prevent its precipitation in the reaction alcohols having in carbon atoms, ethers having 2n carbon System under low water content and to increase further the atoms or esters formed from an alcohol with an acid, in the concentration of the rhodium catalyst and hence the reaction presence of the above-Said polymer-Supported catalyst Sys rate were proposed.