Ethylene → Methyl Acrylate

Participants

Reaction Steps

200 g of the activated catalyst was charged in an agitation type reactor which had the same volume for a liquid phase as that of the bubble column reactor as used in Example 49. A 36.7% by weight solution of acrolein in methanol, in which lead acetate had been dissolved so that the lead concentration of the resultant reaction system became 50 ppm by weight, and a 2 to 4% by weight solution of NaOH in methanol were continuously fed to the reactor at 0.54 liter/hr and at 0.06 liter/hr, respectively (the acrolein concentration of the reaction system consisting of the above-mentioned two different solutions was about 33% by weight), while introducing air to the reactor so that the oxygen concentration at the outlet of the reactor became 4.0% by volume (which is equivalent to the oxygen partial pressure of 0.20 kg/cm2), to thereby effect a reaction for producing methyl acrylate (MA). The reaction was conducted at a temperature of 80° C. under a pressure of 5 kg/cm2. The concentration of NaOH in the above-mentioned methanol solution of NaOH was controlled so that the reaction system had a pH of 7.1. The reaction mixture obtained by the above reaction was continuously withdrawn by overflowing from the outlet of the reactor. Analysis was made with respect to the reaction mixture which was withdrawn from the outlet of the reactor 10 hours after the start of the reaction. As a result, it was found that the conversion of acrolein was 58.3%, the selectivity for MA was 88.8%, and the selectivity for ethylene as a by-product was 2.6%, and that methyl formate was by-produced in an amount of 0.035 mol/mol of MA.

Provenance & Evidence