Acetic Acid → Butyric Acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

For recovery of acetic acid from such ethanol promoted cobalt catalyzed oxidation of liquid butane said patent discloses charging the liquid oxidation effluent to a light ends removal column where dissolved unreacted butane and oxygenated compounds boiling lower than acetic acid are distilled off and recycled to the oxidation. The bottoms from the column are charged to a second column for the purpose of removing metal catalyst where 60% of the charged is distilled off to leave a solution of cobalt in acetic acid (propionic acid, butyric acid and butyrolactone also present) as residue for recycle to the oxidation. Said 60% distillate is fed to a drying (third) column from which dry acetic acid is taken as a bottoms product and then subjected to distillative refining (fourth column) to meet commercial specifications for glacial acetic acid.

Provenance & Evidence