Ammonia → Ethylparaben

Participants

Reaction Steps

A reaction tube having an inside diameter of 5 cm was filled with a thorough mixture of 195 g of alumina and 195 g of a supported catalyst composed of 3.94% 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 75 g/hr, 268.8 g/hr and 40.7 g/hr, respectively, and reacted in the vapor phase at 395° C. The mole ratio of ammonia, steam and ethyl p-hydroxybenzoate was 35:5:1 in the gaseous mixture, and the contact time was 5 seconds. When the reaction was carried out for 308 hours, 15.75 kg of p-hydroxybenzonitrile was obtained from 23.1 kg of ethyl p-hydroxybenzoate. The yield was 95.1% by weight. Gas-chromatographic analysis showed that only 2.5% by weight of phenol was formed as a by-product. The amount of p-hydroxybenzonitrile obtained per part by weight of the supported catalyst was more than 40.3 parts by weight.

Provenance & Evidence