Tetrahydrofuran → Formaldehyde

Participants

Reaction Steps

Tetrahydrofuran is useful as a solvent for polymeric materials, such as polyvinyl chloride and polyvinylidene chloride, and is produced by various processes; for example, catalytic hydrogenation of furan produced by decarbonylation of fulfural; reacting acetylene and formaldehyde to obtain butynediol, followed by hydrogenation and dehydrocyclization to produce tetrahydrofuran, and reacting diacetic ester of 1,4-butanediol with water in the presence of an acid catalyst (refer to British Patent 1,170,222).

Provenance & Evidence