Production of acrylonitrile using propylene Ammonoxidation
· History Acrylonitrile attained a certain importance in Germany during the second world war owing to its use as a raw material for the polyacrylonitrile fiber produced by the former I.G. Farbenindustrie and as an additive in the production of Buna N. It was originally synthesized from ethylene oxide and hydrocyanic acid and later, more economically, from acetylene and hydrocyanic acid The production af acrylonitrile by the direct reaction of propylene, ammonia, and oxygen in accordance with the equation : CH3=CH-CH3 + NH3 + 3/2 O2 C3H3N + 3H2O H2C = CH - CN was described as early as 1949 in a patent application by Allied Chemical and Dye Corp., New York (USA) 111. A few ?ears later, the Distillers Company, Edinburgh (UK), published a process for the reaction of acrolein with ammonia and oxygen, the acrolein being obtained by the air oxidation of propylener21. In this case, the same reactants as are used in the Allied Chemical and Dye Corp. process ...