Ammonia → Ethylparaben

Participants

Reaction Steps

A reaction tube having an inside diameter of 5 cm was filled with 440 g of a supported catalyst composed of 4.35% by weight of boron phosphate (P2O5 /B2O3 mole ratio=1) deposited on the same silica carrier as in Example 1. Ethyl p-hydroxybenzoate, ammonia and steam were introduced into the reaction tube at a rate of 71.6 g/hr, 281.9 g/hr and 43.4 g/hr, respectively, and reacted in the vapor phase at 410° C. The mole ratio of ammonia, steam and ethyl p-hydroxybenzoate in the gaseous mixture was 38.5:5.6:1, and the contact time was 7.5 seconds. When the reaction was continued for 92 hours, 4.477 kg of p-hydroxybenzonitrile was obtained from 6.587 kg of ethyl p-hydroxybenzoate. The yield of the product was 94.8% by weight. Gas-chromatographic analysis showed that only 1.2% by weight of phenol was formed as a by-product. The amount of p-hydroxybenzonitrile obtained was more than 10.1 parts by weight per part by weight of the supported catalyst.

Provenance & Evidence