Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.

Agency of Industrial Science and Technology

Other

Agency of Industrial Science and Technology Ministry of International

Toshio Hayashi

Masatake Haruta

Masahiro Wada

Susumu Tsubota

Takahiro Inagaki

Hideyuki Baba

Hiroshi Yoshida

Hideaki Tsuneki

Toshiya Iida

Satoshi Nakagawa

Yukihiko Kakimoto

Ritsuo Kitada

Yuuichi Satoh

Jun Tatsumi

Kohei Umehara

Yuri Angelov Kalvachev

It is an object of the present invention to provide a catalyst for manufacturing a carboxylic ester, which has superior catalytic activity. The present invention relates to a catalyst for preparing a carboxylic ester, used in a) a reaction for preparing a carboxylic ester by reacting oxygen, an aldehyde, and an alcohol, or b) a reaction for manufacturing a carboxylic ester by reacting oxygen and one or more types of alcohol, comprising a carrier and 1) ultrafine gold particles and/or 2) ultrafine metal particles containing gold and a second element other than gold, having an average particle diameter of not more than 6 nm, are supported on the carrier.

Catalyst for the preparation of carboxylic esters and method for producing carboxylic esters

The present invention provides a process for more efficiently producing an &#x3b1;-hydroxycarboxylic acid ester wherein side reactions due to the &#x3b1;-hydroxycarboxylic acid ester are inhibited or prevented in comparison with prior art production processes. The invention provides a process for producing an &#x3b1;-hydroxycarboxylic acid ester comprising Steps 1 to 3: Step 1. reacting, in the presence of oxygen, (i) a 1,2-diol with a 1,2-diol or (ii) a 1,2-diol with an alcohol to obtain a reaction product containing an &#x3b1;-hydroxycarboxylic acid ester; Step 2. separating the &#x3b1;-hydroxycarboxylic acid ester from the reaction product obtained in Step 1 by distillation under reduced pressure; and Step 3. feeding Step 1 with a mixture obtained by partially or entirely removing water from the reaction product, wherein the mixture contains an unreacted 1,2-diol and/or alcohol.

Method for producing &#x3b1;-hydroxycarboxylate

A method of producing a diol derivative efficiently and to high purity is provided. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method of producing a diol derivative having, as a fundamental step, a step of obtaining an &#x3b1;-hydroxycarboxylic acid ester by reacting (i) one or more 1,2-diols or (ii) a 1,2-diol and a primary alcohol as starting material(s) with oxygen in the presence of a catalyst comprising metal loaded on a carrier.

Method for producing diol derivatives

To provide an epoxide-production-use catalyst that is suitably used for producing an epoxide by partial oxidation of an unsaturated hydrocarbon, a catalyst in accordance with the present invention is obtained by fixing gold fine particles to a carrier containing an oxide containing at least one of titanium and zirconium, and has an acid quantity of not more than 0.1 mmol/g determined by the NH -TPD method. Such a catalyst for epoxide producing use can be produced by, for instance, fixing gold fine particles to a carrier having an acid quantity of not more than 0.15 mmol/g. The catalyst for epoxide producing use arranged as above is preferably used as a catalyst in partial oxidation of an unsaturated hydrocarbon to produce a corresponding epoxide.

Catalyst for use in production of epoxide, method for producing the catalyst, and method for producing epoxide

An oxidation catalyst according to the present invention is prepared, for example, by heat processing a gold compound at 150&deg; C. to 80&deg; C., yielding ultrafine gold particles, which are then mixed with a palladium compound and a compound containing at least one element selected from the group consisting of alkaline metals and the elements of Groups IIA, IIIA, VIA, IIB, VB, and VIII of the Periodic Table. By an oxidation reaction between a benzyl compound such as p-xylene and a carboxylic acid such as acetic acid in the presence of oxygen and the oxidation catalyst prepared as above, a benzyl ester such as p-methylbenzyl acetate or p-xylylene diacetate can be produced. Consequently, it is possible to provide an oxidation catalyst suitable for use in industrially producing the foregoing benzyl esters, a method of preparing the foregoing oxidation catalyst, and a method of producing the foregoing benzyl esters efficiently and at low cost.

Oxidation catalyst

This invention provides a catalyst for partial oxidation of unsaturated hydrocarbon, characterized in that the catalyst comprises finely divided gold particles immobilized on a titanium-containing oxide and is one subjected to a silylating treatment or a hydrophobilizing treatment. The catalyst of the invention shows little deactivation with time in a reaction for preparing an epoxide from unsaturated hydrocarbon, and can stably retain a high selectivity, a high activity and like excellent catalytic capability for a long term.

Catalyst for partially oxidizing unsaturated hydrocarbon

The invention provides a catalyst for partial oxidation of hydrocarbon in the presence of a reducing compound, the catalyst comprising ultra-fine gold particles immobilized on a titanium-containing oxide, and a process for preparing an oxygen-containing organic compound, the process comprising the step of oxidizing hydrocarbon with oxygen in the presence of the above catalyst and a reducing compound.

Process for the partial oxidation of hydrocarbon and process for

A partially-oxidizing catalyst for hydrocarbon contains gold, titanium oxide and a carrier whose specific surface area is not less than 50 m.sup.2 /g. The carrier is preferably made from silicon oxide and/or aluminum oxide. The content of gold in the catalyst is preferably set in the range of 0.005 to 5% by weight. Further, another partially-oxidizing catalyst for a hydrocarbon contains gold, a titanium-containing metal oxide, and at least one element selected from the group consisting of an alkaline metal, an alkaline-earth metal and thallium. With these compositions, it becomes possible to provide a partially-oxidizing catalyst for a hydrocarbon having superior activity and selectivity in partially oxidizing the hydrocarbon in the presence of hydrogen and oxygen. Moreover, a partially-oxidizing method for a hydrocarbon is used for partially oxidizing the hydrocarbon by using any of the above-mentioned partially-oxidizing catalysts in the presence of hydrogen and oxygen. This method makes it possible to manufacture an epoxide from a hydrocarbon of the olefin family and also to manufacture an alcohol and/or a ketone from a saturated hydrocarbon, with high selectivity and high conversion.

Catalysts for partial oxidation of hydrocarbons and method of partial

The method of manufacturing an epoxide according to the present invention includes: a dehydrogenation step 1, in which a gas A containing an alkane is dehydrogenated, producing a gas B which contains an alkene and hydrogen; an epoxidation step 2, in which the gas B is epoxidized by use of a gas C containing oxygen in the presence of a catalyst containing gold, producing a gas D which contains an epoxide and unreacted hydrogen and oxygen; a separation step 3, in which the epoxide is separated from the gas D, leaving a gas E; and an oxygen elimination step 4, in which oxygen and hydrogen contained in the gas E are allowed to react, eliminating the oxygen and leaving a gas F. At least part of the gas F (gas F.sub.1) is recycled by returning it to the dehydrogenation step 1. Hydrogen produced in the dehydrogenation step 1 is consumed in the epoxidation step 2 and the oxygen elimination step 4, and thus does not build up in the system of reaction. Accordingly, it is not necessary to separate or eliminate the hydrogen from the system of reaction. In other words, a method can be provided which is industrially advantageous for continuously producing an epoxide from an alkane.

Method of manufacturing epoxide

An alcohol or a ketone or a mixture thereof is produced from a saturated hydrocarbon or an epoxide is produced from an unsaturated hydrocarbon by passing a mixture comprising of molecular hydrogen, the saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon and oxygen through a bed of a catalyst comprising a titanium dioxide carrier and ultrafine gold particles deposited on the carrier, thereby effecting the oxidation of the hydrocarbon with oxygen.

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Kobe, Japan

Toshio Hayashi