Catalytic method for the production of carbonyl compounds

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/534,878 filed Dec. 12, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,273,954, which was the National Stage of International Application No. PCT/CH2003/000749 filed Nov. 14, 2003, which in turn claims the benefit of priority of Swiss Patent Application No. 1916/02 filed Nov. 14, 2002 and Swiss Patent Application No. 0273/03 filed Feb. 21, 2003. The contents of the above applications are hereby incorporated by reference.

The present invention relates to a catalytic method for producing aliphatic and aromatic carbonyl compounds having at least one aldehyde or ketone function, and these compounds may also simultaneously have both aldehyde and ketone functions.

The aforementioned class of compounds includes significant products that in general are important intermediate or end products in various fields in the secondary and precision chemical industry.

Because of the importance of these products, many methods have already been proposed for their production. In some of these methods, alkyl or hydroxyalkyl compounds are used as starting materials.

However, in each case, the previously known methods are not widely usable, or are too complicated and expensive for industrial use.

Above all, they exhibit inadequate selectivity if the goal is to produce polyaldehydes or polyketones, that is, products that have a plurality of aldehyde or ketone functions in the same molecule.

If the previously known direct oxidation method is used for this, for instance as described in German Patent DE 2605678, Swiss Patent CH 609318, or German Patent DE 2944477, then the result is mixed-oxidized products, in which there are carboxyl, hydroxyalkyl and formyl or ketone groups, all combined in the same molecule.

For instance, in the production of 4,4′-oxybis(benzaldehyde) from 4,4′-oxybis(toluene) by the previously known direct oxidation methods, is at best 30 to 40 mol %.

It is also known that compounds with functional groups in accordance with formula I,

in which R 1 stands for hydrogen, alkyl or aryl, X stands for halogen, and n=1,

with sulfoxides, in which R 2 and R 3 stand for alkyl or aryl, react to form aldehyde or ketone groups and sulfides in accordance with reaction (1) (Komblum et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1959, 81, 4113).

Analogously, functional groups of formula I, in which X stands for hydroxyl, can be converted with sulfoxides into aldehyde or ketone groups and sulfides, if the hydroxyl group reacts with a previously formed derivative of sulfoxide, for instance formed as derivative with acid chlorides (Omura et al, Tetrahedron 1978, 34, 1651; Mancuso et al, Synthesis, 1981, 165), with dicyclohexylcarbodiimide Pfitzner et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1965, 87, 5661) or with acid anhydrides (Albright et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1967, 89, 2416).

Finally, it recently has been learned that functional groups of formula I, in which R 1 stands for alkyl or aryl and X stands for hydrogen, react with sulfoxides and in the presence of polyoxomolybdates, also as in reaction (1) to form ketones and sulfides (Khenkin et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2002, 124, 4198).

In all these cases, which are described by reaction (1), the stoichiometric quantity of the corresponding sulfides is created from sulfoxides.

The object of the present invention is to produce aliphatic and aromatic carbonyl compounds with high selectivity by a catalytic method.

This object is attained by a catalytic method in accordance with one aspect, in that the sulfide created is oxidized back into the corresponding sulfoxide continuously by addition of a suitable oxidant, so that the sulfoxide or the sulfide needs to be used only as a catalyst.

The method will be described below.

The starting material of this catalytic method is a compound which contains at least one (n≧1) functional group of formula I,

in which R 1 stands for hydrogen, alkyl or aryl, X stands for hydrogen or a group that can be substituted for the sulfinyl group of a sulfoxide during the catalytic reaction, and n stands for integral values between 1 and 8. This compound is oxidized in the presence of a sulfoxide and/or a sulfide in the simultaneously presence of iron salts or redox pairs such as Fe—Cu or Ag—Cu salts by means of an oxidant with a redox potential of E o >+2 V vs. NHE (normal hydrogen electrode), preferably by means of a persulfate salt. By means of the presence of the sulfoxide and/or of a sulfide, it becomes possible for the first time to produce the desired carbonyl compounds with very high selectivity; the formation of alcohols, carboxylic acids, dimerization products and other secondary byproducts is reduced decisively or essentially prevented.

This surprising phenomenon of the method of the invention can be ascribed to the intermediate formation of functional groups of formula II,

in which R 1 stands for hydrogen, alkyl or aryl, R 2 − and R 3 stand for alkyl or aryl, and n stands for integral values between 1 and 8. As sulfoxides, dialkyl, alkylaryl or diaryl sulfoxides and mixtures of them are used. As sulfides, dialkyl, alkylaryl or diaryl sulfides and mixtures of them are used. The sulfoxides serve as acid transfer catalysts, which are either soluble in the reaction solution or are immobilized in a solid body made into a slurry (suspension) in the reaction mixture. The sulfides are either soluble in the reaction solution or are immobilized in a solid body made into a slurry in the reaction mixture.

The mole fraction of the sulfoxide and/or of the sulfide is 1 to 90 mol %, referred to the aldehyde or ketone function formed. A mole fraction of the sulfoxide and/or of the sulfide of 1 to 500 mol % can also be employed, if the kinetic reaction conditions for instance require this. Also in that case, the back-oxidation of the intermediately formed sulfide gains substantial significance.

The presence of a sulfoxide and/or of a sulfide in the reaction mixture can be accomplished in the most various ways.

The sulfoxide or the sulfide may be present alone or in a mixture of sulfoxides or sulfides. Moreover, the sulfoxide along with the sulfide may each be present individually or each in a mixture.

Surprisingly, the use of at least one sulfoxide and/or at least one sulfide in the reaction mixture leads to high selectivity.

Iron salts, alone or in combination with silver salts, serve primarily to split the persulfate to form the actual oxidant, that is, the sulfate radical anion. The use of a copper salt along with an iron salt or silver salt proves advantageous in the selective production of carbonyl compounds. For instance, the formation of dimerization products is effectively suppressed.

The method described may be performed by the gradual addition of the persulfate in the form of powder or in an aqueous solution, while stirring forcefully, to the previously placed starting material, which is dissolved in an inert organic solvent, in water, or in a mixture thereof. The sulfoxide and/or the sulfide may be present in this reaction mixture in dissolved form or in a slurry.

The most comprehensive conditions, which with respect to the starting material lead to the best selectivity, are adding a sulfoxide and/or a sulfide and the gradual addition of an aqueous solution of persulfate, while stirring forcefully, to a mixture of the starting material dissolved in water, with some proportion of organic solvent that is water-miscible. Especially suitable solvents are acetonitrile, methyl and ethyl alcohol (methanol and ethanol), acetone, acetic acid, dimethyl formamide, and acetamide.

Preferably, the proportion of organic solvent in the mixture with water is from 25 to 75%, referred to the water.

Examples of effective metal salts are the following:

a) all water-soluble iron salts, preferably sulfates, nitrates and acetates; b) all water-soluble silver salts, preferably sulfates, nitrates and acetates; c) all water-soluble copper salts, preferably sulfates, nitrates and acetates.

As a rule, the concentration of the iron salt or silver salt is from 0.005 to 10 mol %, referred to the starting material to be oxidized. The copper salt in the redox pairs is preferably used in a molar ratio of Fe:Cu or Ag:Cu of 0.1 to 3.

As a result, the oxidation is performed at a temperature of 10 to 100° C.

According to the invention, the method may also be based on a mixture of starting materials, and a similarly high selectivity for carbonyl compounds is attained.

With the catalytic oxidation method according to the invention, the selectivity of the carbonyl compounds produced, under optimized reaction conditions, can be increased considerably, sometimes to over 90%.

The present invention will be described in detail in terms of the examples below, without claiming to have described the industrial potential of the invention fully; in particular, the examples have in no way been optimized.