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Industrial catalysis in Japan
N20
Industrial Catalysis in Japan Several very striking advances in industrial catalysis were disclosed in the Industrial Session of the First Tokyo Conference on Advanced Catalytic Science and Technology held in Tokyo from 1st to 5th July, 1990. Mitsubishi Kasei reported the successful commercialization of the hydroformylation of internal alkenes as applied to the large-scale production of isononyl alcohols. While hydroformylation of alpha alkenes is in widespread practice, the use of the much less reactive internal alkenes appears to be unprecendented at the industrial scale. Nitto Chemical reported the commercialization of a new process for the selective production of dimethyl amine from methanol and ammonia, using a mordenite-based catalyst. While zeolites are in common use for the production of hydrocarbon products, this new development is an advance in the use of zeolites for producing functionalized organic products whereby unusual isomer control is achieved via shape-selective catalysis, Not presented in detail but mentioned in passing was news of the construction of a new plant by Asahi Chemical for the selective hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexene; the latter molecule is subsequently hydrated to cyclohexanol. A plant on the 60,000 ton/year scale is apparently scheduled for completion in 1990. The hydrogenation catalyst has a ruthenium-based composition and is responsible for a rather remarkable example of selective hydrogenation. In afar more embryonic state were striking research results reported by Professor T. lnui of Kyoto University which are aimed at the production of ethene. Using a NiSAP034 catalyst, he has been able to achieve conversion of methanol to ethene
applied catalysis -
Volume 63 No. 2 -22
with selectivity of 90% at 100% methanol conversion. A review of 38 new catalytic developments commercialized in Japan during the last decade has been written by Misono and Nojiri and will appear in the next issue of Applied Catalysis (64(1990)1). J.I. ROTH Mechanisms of Catalytic Reactions The Fifth All-Union Conference on the Mechanisms of Catalytic Reactions was held from 14th to 18th May at the Zelinskii Institute of Organic Chemistry. This is one of the most popular catalytic meetings in the U.S.S.R. and takes place once every four years. More than 200 participants discussed the wide scope of the main heterogeneous catalytic processes. 26 lectures were presented by the scientists from Moscow and Novosibirsk (Institute of Catalysis). Of particular interest to our readers were the following presentations: M.I. Temkin: The elucidation of the nature of the catalytic properties of solids on the basis of kinetic data; V.A. Likholobov: The key intermediates in the reactions of hydrogenation, oxidation and carbonilation by Pd - complexes; V.I. Savchenko: The mechanism of adsorption of O2 and NO and related reactions of oxidation of metal surfaces; V.V Lunin: The prediction of catalytic properties of intermetallic compounds and their hydrides; A.V. Sklyarov: Molecular beam studies in adsorption and catalysis; K.G. lone: The mechanism of the reaction of electrophilic substitution in aromatic ring over zeolite catalysts,
August 1990
Industrial Catalysis in Japan Several very striking advances in industrial catalysis were disclosed in the Industrial Session of the First Tokyo Conference on Advanced Catalytic Science and Technology held in Tokyo from 1st to 5th July, 1990. Mitsubishi Kasei reported the successful commercialization of the hydroformylation of internal alkenes as applied to the large-scale production of isononyl alcohols. While hydroformylation of alpha alkenes is in widespread practice, the use of the much less reactive internal alkenes appears to be unprecendented at the industrial scale. Nitto Chemical reported the commercialization of a new process for the selective production of dimethyl amine from methanol and ammonia, using a mordenite-based catalyst. While zeolites are in common use for the production of hydrocarbon products, this new development is an advance in the use of zeolites for producing functionalized organic products whereby unusual isomer control is achieved via shape-selective catalysis, Not presented in detail but mentioned in passing was news of the construction of a new plant by Asahi Chemical for the selective hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexene; the latter molecule is subsequently hydrated to cyclohexanol. A plant on the 60,000 ton/year scale is apparently scheduled for completion in 1990. The hydrogenation catalyst has a ruthenium-based composition and is responsible for a rather remarkable example of selective hydrogenation. In afar more embryonic state were striking research results reported by Professor T. lnui of Kyoto University which are aimed at the production of ethene. Using a NiSAP034 catalyst, he has been able to achieve conversion of methanol to ethene
applied catalysis -
Volume 63 No. 2 -22
with selectivity of 90% at 100% methanol conversion. A review of 38 new catalytic developments commercialized in Japan during the last decade has been written by Misono and Nojiri and will appear in the next issue of Applied Catalysis (64(1990)1). J.I. ROTH Mechanisms of Catalytic Reactions The Fifth All-Union Conference on the Mechanisms of Catalytic Reactions was held from 14th to 18th May at the Zelinskii Institute of Organic Chemistry. This is one of the most popular catalytic meetings in the U.S.S.R. and takes place once every four years. More than 200 participants discussed the wide scope of the main heterogeneous catalytic processes. 26 lectures were presented by the scientists from Moscow and Novosibirsk (Institute of Catalysis). Of particular interest to our readers were the following presentations: M.I. Temkin: The elucidation of the nature of the catalytic properties of solids on the basis of kinetic data; V.A. Likholobov: The key intermediates in the reactions of hydrogenation, oxidation and carbonilation by Pd - complexes; V.I. Savchenko: The mechanism of adsorption of O2 and NO and related reactions of oxidation of metal surfaces; V.V Lunin: The prediction of catalytic properties of intermetallic compounds and their hydrides; A.V. Sklyarov: Molecular beam studies in adsorption and catalysis; K.G. lone: The mechanism of the reaction of electrophilic substitution in aromatic ring over zeolite catalysts,
August 1990