Manufacturing Process for Peroxyisobutyric Acid as an Oxidizing Agent for Propylene to Propylene Oxide

Abstract

Peroxyisobutyric acid was obtained by the non-catalytic liquid phase oxidation of isobutyraldehyde with oxygen. The one pass yield and the selective yield of peroxyisobutyric acid were 77% and 85% respectively at 65°C and 15kg/cm² with residence time of 2.62min.
Propylene oxide was obtained by the oxidation of propylene with peroxyisobutyric acid in the presence of water. The conversion of peroxyisobutyric acid was 93% and the selective yield of propylene oxide (including propylene glycol) was 95.8%, based on peroxyisobutyric acid at 60°C and 15kg/cm² where the molar ratio of water, peroxyisobutyric acid and propylene was 2.6:1:2.7.