Acetaldehyde → Methyl Acetate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Therefore, in step (a) of the process of this invention, methanol is hydrocarbonylated to C2 compounds such as ethanol, acetaldehyde, methyl acetate and dimethylacetal, and the reaction mixture containing these compounds is then freed of ethanol, acetaldehyde, methyl acetate and dimethylacetal; concurrently, in step (b), methyl acetate is carbonylated to acetic anhydride which is then freed from the reaction mixture; the mixture of acetaldehyde and dimethylacetal separated in step (a) is reacted with acetic anhydride to form a vinyl acetate precursor ethylidene diacetate (hereunder referred to as ED) and methyl acetate (step (c)), or vinyl acetate, acetic acid and methyl acetate are produced directly and simultaneously (step (c) combined with step (d)); both the methyl acetate produced in the step (c) or the combination of steps (c) and (d) and the methyl acetate produced in the step (a) are carbonylated to acetic anhydride. The above cycle is repeated. When ED is synthesized as a precursor, it is thermally decomposed (step (d)) to vinyl acetate and acetic acid. In summary, this invention accomplishes simultaneous production of vinyl acetate, acetic acid and ethanol from methanol, carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

Provenance & Evidence