American Cyanamid Company

Ken Matsuda

William Austin Barber

Kin H Tsu

Robert J Munch

Martin S Butensky

Use of copper ion in acrylamide solution during concentration to inhibit polymerization.

Processing of acrylamide solutions; concentration without polymer

For making supported copper catalyst, useful in hydration of nitriles to produce amides, a cuprous compound e.g. cuprous chloride is impregnated into a support material, e.g. alumina, using acrylonitrile or acetonitrile as the imbibing solvent which is then removed by evaporation. The cuprous compound in the support is reduced to copper in situ, by contact with a reducing agent e.g. sodium borohydride.

Reduced copper catalyst on support

In the catalytic hydration of acrylonitrile to produce acrylamide by contacting aqueous solution of acrylonitrile with a catalyst, the solubility of acrylonitrile in the aqueous feed solution is increased by presence of acrylamide cosolvent in the feed solution, enabling feed solutions having concentration of acrylonitrile higher than the saturation concentration of acrylonitrile in water without a cosolvent.

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Stamford, CT, United States of America

Ken Matsuda