Hydrochloric Acid → Phosgene

Participants

Reaction Steps

Broadly stated, the invention is a process for producing oxalyl chloride comprising: contacting ethylene carbonate with chlorine in a reaction vessel at a temperature in the range of about 70° to 100° C.; continuously circulating the above reaction mixture from the reaction vessel through an illuminated reaction zone of reduced cross-sectional area relative to that of the reaction vessel, and back into the reaction vessel to form tetrachloroethylene carbonate and hydrogen chloride; venting the hydrogen chloride from the reaction vessel; decomposing the tetrachloroethylene carbonate by heating tetrachloroethylene carbonate with a catalytic amount of a tertiary amine or amide to form oxalyl chloride and phosgene gas; and separating the phosgene gas from the oxalyl chloride.

Provenance & Evidence