Process for the obtention of methacrolein and methacrylic acid

Abstract: A method for preparing a multicomponent catalyst comprising molybdenum, bismuth, iron and cesium or thallium for producing methacrolein and methacrylic acid by the gas-phase catalytic oxidation of isobutylene or tert-butanol with molecular oxygen, wherein a slurry comprising ammonium molybdate which is a material for the molybdenum component as well as materials for the bismuth, iron and cesium or thallium components is used; at least one of materials for components other than molybdenum is dissolved in an aqueous solution containing 0.01 to 0.36 mole of nitric acid per 1 mole of ammonium molybdate; and said nitric acid excludes nitric acid radicals contained in the materials for the catalyst. According to the present invention, the amount of nitric acid used is controlled in a particular range, so that a highly active catalyst for gas-phase catalytic oxidation is obtained.

Description: The present invention relates to the use of a multicomponent catalyst comprising molybdenum, bismuth, iron, and cesium or thallium for producing methacrolein and methacrylic acid by the gas-phase catalytic oxidation of isobutylene or tert-butanol. A large number of catalysts are known in regard to the production of methacrolein and methacrylic acid by the gas-phase catalytic oxidation of isobutylene or tert-butanol. Also, a large number of methods for producing the catalysts have been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 57-12827 discloses that, in producing a multicomponent catalyst comprising molybdenum, bismuth, lead and antimony used in the ammoxidation of propylene, an aqueous slurry is adjusted to a pH of 7 or less. Further, U.S. Patent No. 4,224,193 discloses that, in producing a multicomponent catalyst comprising molybdenum, bismuth, iron and an alkali metal (e.g. potassium, rubidium) used in the oxidation of propylene or isobutylene, it is preferred to finally adjust the pH of an aqueous slurry to 1 to 5. However, the above methods are complicated and expensive in producing a catalyst industrially. Further, since these methods require nitric acid or ammonia as a pH controlling agent, the have a problem that a large amount of NOx is generated when drying and baking the catalyst. EP-A-0 304 867 describes a process for the preparation of methacrolein and methacrylic acid from methyl tert-butyl ether wherein the catalytic gas phase oxidation of methyl tert-butyl ether with a molecular oxygen containing gas is carried out using a multicomponent catalyst. The molar ratio of nitric acid/ammonium paramolybdate in said document is outside the molar ratio of the present invention. The present inventors have investigated to obtain a highly active catalyst under conditions for producing it industrially and, as a result, found a method for preparing the highly active catalyst using quite a small amount of nitric acid. An object of the present invention is to provide a novel method for producing methacrolein and methacrylic acid by the gas-phase catalytic oxidation of isobutylene or tert-butanol with molecular oxygen using a multicomponent catalyst comprising molybdenum, bismuth, iron, and cesium or thallium. The invention is directed to the use of a multicomponent catalyst comprising molybdenum, bismuth, iron, and cesium or thallium wherein the catalyst is prepared by the following steps: a) an aqueous solution or ammonium para molybdate is prepared; b) at least one of the materials for bismuth, iron and the components A (Ni, CO) and Y (Mg, Mn, Zn, Ba, Cr) are dissolved in an aqueous solution containing 0.01-0.36 mole of HNO₃ per mole of ammonium para molybdate of the solution prepared in a); c) the resulting aqueous nitric acid solution of step b) is added to the aqueous solution of step a) to form a slurry; which also contains materials for the cesium and/or thallium components, the amount of nitric acid referred to herein means the amount of nitric acid alone added as a solvent to the aqueous solution of the material, said nitric acid excluding nitric acid radicals usually contained as an anion in the materials for the catalyst, with the proviso that after the addition of nitric acid disclosed in point b), no further additions of nitric acid are made, for producing methacrolein and methacrylic acid by the gas-phase catalytic oxidation of isobutylene or tert-butanol with molecular oxygen. A catalyst to be used in the present invention is represented by the formula: Mo a W b Bi c Fe d Sb e A f X g Y h Z i O j wherein Mo, W, Bi, Fe, Sb and O are molybdenum, tungsten, bismuth, iron, antimony and oxygen, respectively, A is at least one element selected from the group consisting of nickel and cobalt, X is at least one element selected from the group consisting of cesium and thallium, Y is at least one element selected from the group consisting of magnesium, manganese, zinc, barium and chromium, Z is at least one element selected from the group consisting of phosphorus, boron, sulfur, silicon, cerium, potassium and rubidium, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i and j are an atomic ratio of each element, and when a is 12, b is 0 to 2, c is 0.01 to 2, d is 0.5 to 5, e is 0.01 to 3, f is 1 to 12, g is 0.01 to 2, h is 0.01 to 10, i is 0 to 20, and j is the number of oxygen atoms necessary to satisfy the valence of each component. This catalyst is used for producing methacrolein and methacrylic acid by the gas-phase catalytic oxidation of isobutylene or tert-butanol with molecular oxygen. As a material for molybdenum, one of the constituents of the catalyst, ammonium para-molybdate is used, As materials for other constituents, it is desirable to use oxides or those which can be turned into an oxide by strong heating such as chlorides, sulfates, nitrates, ammonium salts, carbonates, hydroxides and mixtures thereof. The characteristics of the present invention consist in that ammonium para molybdate is used as a material for the molybdenum component, and also that the amount of nitric acid used in the aqueous solution of a certain material is as extremely small as 0.01 to 0.36 mole per 1 mole of ammonium para molybdate as compared with usually used amounts of nitric acid. The amount of nitric acid referred to herein means the amount of nitric acid alone added as a solvent to the aqueous solution of the materials, said nitric acid excluding nitric acid radicals usually contained as an anion in the materials for the catalyst. In the preparation method of the present invention, nitric acid is used for dissolving at least one of the materials for bismuth, iron and the components A and Y contained in the foregoing formula. Particularly, it is preferred to dissolve all of the materials for bismuth, iron and the components A and Y in the aqueous solution containing nitric acid. The resulting aqueous nitric acid solution is added to the aqueous solution of the material for the molybdenum component and a material for the tungsten component added as need arises, to prepare an aqueous slurry. The remaining materials not dissolved in the aqueous solution containing nitric acid may be added in the form of their aqueous solution or a solid to the aqueous solution of the material for the molybdenum and/or tungsten component. The amount of nitric acid used here must be in the range of amount according to the present invention, not giving a sufficient catalytic activity whether it is smaller than or larger than said range of amount. A reason why a high catalytic activity is obtained only when the particular amount of nitric acid is used is presumed as follows. The molybdenum or tungsten component forms a poly-nuclear metal complex with bismuth, iron, etc. The component A contained in the foregoing formula is particularly difficult to form a polynuclear metal complex, but becomes easy to form the above complex when the amount of nitric acid is in the range of amount according to the present invention. Formation of such the polynuclear metal complex containing also the component A may be considered to develop a high activity. In the gas-phase catalytic oxidation of isobutylene or tert-butanol, the acidity and basicity of the catalyst is one of the important factors for developing the selectivity of the products (Fine Chemical, Vol. 9, No. 23, pp. 1 to 14, 1980). In this connection, Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 61-22040 and No. 63-122642 disclose that an element such as potassium, rubidium, cesium or thallium is added as a component for controlling the acidity and basicity of the catalyst. However, when the amount of nitric acid is extremely small as in the present invention, cesium and thallium among the foregoing elements are important, it being difficult to obtain a sufficient selectivity when potassium or rubidium is used alone. The catalyst used in the present invention works effectively without a carrier, but can be also used supported on or diluted with an inert carrier such as silica, alumina, silica-alumina, silicon carbide, etc. In producing methacrolein or methacrylic acid with the catalyst according to the present invention, molecular oxygen is added to isobutylene or tert-butanol, and the gas-phase catalytic oxidation is carried out in the presence of the foregoing catalyst. The molar ratio of isobutylene or tert-butanol to oxygen is preferably 1:0.5 to 1:3. It is preferred for the gas, a material, to be used diluted with an inert gas. The molecular oxygen used in the oxidation may be any of pure oxygen gas and air, but air is advantageous industrially. The reaction pressure is preferably normal pressure to several atmospheres. The reaction temperature is preferably in a range of 250° to 450°C. This reaction can be carried out by either a fluidized-bed method or fixed-bed method. The catalyst used in the present invention has advantages that the catalytic activity is extremely high and besides the catalytic life is long. The present invention will be illustrated in more detail with reference to the following examples, which are however not to be construed to limit the scope of the present invention. Parts in the following examples and comparative examples are by weight. Analyses were carried out by gas chromatography. The conversion of isobutylene or tert-butanol and the selectivity for the produced methacrolein and methacrylic acid are defined as follows: Example 1 To 1000 parts of pure water were added 500 parts of ammonium para molybdate and 27.6 parts of cesium nitrate, and the resulting mixture was heated with stirring (solution A). Separately, 10 parts of 60% nitric acid was added to 80 parts of pure water, and after the resulting solution was made homogeneous, 68.7 parts of bismuth nitrate was added to and dissolved in the solution. To the solution were successively added 190.7 parts of ferric nitrate, 274.5 parts of nickel nitrate, 137.3 parts of cobalt nitrate, 121.0 parts of magnesium nitrate and then 720 parts of pure water, and these salts were dissolved to make a solution (solution B). The solution B was added to the solution A to make a slurry, and 24.1 parts of antimony trioxide was added thereto. The mixture was heated with stirring to vaporize the greater part of water. The molar ratio of nitric acid to ammonium para molybdate at that time was 0.24. The resulting caky substance was dried at 140°C, baked at 500°C for 6 hours and then formed. The composition of elements except oxygen of the catalyst thus obtained was Mo₁₂Bi 0.6 Fe₂Sb 0.7 Ni₄Co₂ Mg₂Cs 0.6 (catalysts described later also are represented by the composition of elements except oxygen). This catalyst was charged in a stainless steel tubular reactor, and a mixed gas, a material, consisting of 5 vol.% of isobutylene, 12 vol.% of oxygen, 10 vol.% of steam and 73 vol.% of nitrogen was passed through the catalyst layer for a contact time of 3.6 seconds to react the mixed gas at 360°C. As a result, the conversion of isobutylene was 94.5%, the selectivity for methacrolein was 85.3% and the selectivity for methacrylic acid was 5.0%. Example 2 To 1000 parts of pure water were added 500 parts of ammonium para molybdate and 27.6 parts of cesium nitrate, and the resulting mixture was heated with stirring (solution A). Separately, 5 parts of 60% nitric acid was added to 50 parts of pure water, and after the resulting solution was made homogeneous, 68.7 parts of bismuth nitrate was added to and dissolved in the solution. To the solution were added 480.7 parts of cobalt nitrate and 200 parts of pure water, and this salt was dissolved in the solution (solution B). Further separately, 190.7 parts of ferric nitrate and 70.2 parts of zinc nitrate were added to and dissolved in 600 parts of pure water (solution C). The solution B was added to the solution A to make a slurry, and then the solution C was added to the slurry. The molar ratio of nitric acid to ammonium para molybdate at that time was 0.12. Thereafter, 24.1 parts of antimony trioxide was added, and the slurry was heated with stirring and spray-dried. The dried substance obtained was baked at 500°C for 6 hours and then formed. The composition of the catalyst thus obtained was Mo₁₂Bi 0.6 Fe₂Sb 0.7 Co₇Zn₁Cs 0.6 . Using this catalyst, reaction was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 1. As a result, the conversion of isobutylene was 93.2%, the selectivity for methacrolein was 87.3% and the selectivity for methacrylic acid was 4.4%. Examples 3 to 8 The catalysts shown in Table 1 were prepared according to Example 1 except that nitric acid was used in amounts shown in Table 1 and that a material for tungsten was ammonium tungstate; those for chromium, thallium, barium, cerium, potassium, rubidium, manganese and zinc were their nitrates, respectively; those for boron, sulfur and phosphorus were boric acid, sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid, respectively; and that for silicon was silica sol. Using these catalysts, reaction was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that the reaction temperature was changed to 350°C. The results are shown in Table 2. Example Conversion of isobutylene (%) Selectivity for methacrolein (%) Selectivity for methacrylic acid (%) 3 97.1 88.4 3.6 4 98.0 88.0 3.3 5 97.3 88.1 3.5 6 98.1 86.6 4.0 7 97.3 88.3 3.4 8 97.9 87.7 3.2 Examples 9 and 10 Using the catalyst of Example 1 in Example 9 and that of Example 3 in Example 10, reaction was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that the material for the reaction was changed from isobutylene to tert-butanol, and that reaction temperatures shown in Table 3 were used. The results are also shown in Table 3. Example Reaction temperature (°C) Conversion of tert-butanol (%) Selectivity for methacrolein (%) Selectivity for methacrylic acid (%) 9 360 100 83.3 2.5 10 350 100 87.4 2.7 Comparative Example 1 In Example 1, a catalyst of the same composition was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that nitric acid was not added. Using this catalyst, reaction was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 1 to find that the conversion of isobutylene was 92.0%, the selectivity for methacrolein was 85.2% and the selectivity for methacrylic acid was 4.5%. Comparative Example 2 In Example 1, a catalyst of the same composition was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the amount of nitric acid was 0.5 mole per 1 mole of ammonium para molybdate. Using this catalyst, reaction was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 1 to find that the conversion of isobutylene was 92.1%, the selectivity for methacrolein was 85.0% and the selectivity for methacrylic acid was 4.8%. Comparative Example 3 In Example 1, reaction was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that the amount of nitric acid was 1.0 mole per 1 mole of ammonium molybdate, and that tert-butanol was used as a material for the reaction. As a result, the conversion of tert-butanol was 100%, the selectivity for methacrolein was 81.0% and the selectivity for methacrylic acid was 2.0%. Comparative Example 4 In Example 3, reaction was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that the amount of nitric acid was 0.001 mole per 1 mole of ammonium para molybdate, and that the reaction temperature was 350°C. As a result, the conversion of isobutylene was 95.1%, the selectivity for methacrolein was 88.5% and the selectivity for methacrylic acid was 3.2%. When the amount of nitric acid is reduced, the activity of the prepared catalyst lowers, and the conversion of isobutylene shows as large a reduction as about 2% at the same reaction temperature. Comparative Example 5 In Example 3, reaction was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that the amount of nitric acid was 2.0 moles per 1 mole of ammonium para molybdate, and that the reaction temperature was 350°C. As a result, the conversion of isobutylene was 95.0%, the selectivity for methacrolein was 88.6% and the selectivity for methacrylic acid was 3.3%. When the amount of nitric acid is increased, the catalytic activity similarly lowers. Comparative Example 6 Using the catalyst used in Comparative Example 5, reaction was carried out under the same conditions as in Comparative Example 5 except that tert-butanol was used as a material for the reaction. As a result, the conversion of tert-butanol was 100%, the selectivity for methacrolein was 85.1% and the selectivity for methacrylic acid was 2.8%. In this case, the conversion of tert-butanol was the same as in Example 10 but the selectivity for methacrolein lowered. Comparative Example 7 In Example 3, a catalyst of the following composition was prepared in the same manner as in Example 3 except that 14.3 parts of potassium nitrate was used in place of cesium nitrate: Mo₁₂W 0.3 Bi 0.6 Fe₂Sb 0.7 Ni₄Co₂Mg 0.5 Zn 0.5 K 0.6 . Using this catalyst, reaction was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that the reaction temperature was 350°C. As a result, the conversion of isobutylene was 98.5%, the selectivity for methacrolein was 83.1% and the selectivity for methacrylic acid was 4.5%. Comparative Example 8 In Example 3, a catalyst of the following composition was prepared in the same manner as in Example 3 except that 20.9 parts of rubidium nitrate was used in place of cesium nitrate: Mo₁₂W 0.3 Bi 0.6 Fe₂Sb 0.7 Ni₄Co₂Mg 0.5 Zn 0.5 Rb 0.6 . Using this catalyst, reaction was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that reaction temperature was 350°C. As a result, the conversion of isobutylene was 98.0%, the selectivity for methacrolein was 85.3% and the selectivity for methacrylic acid was 4.0%.

Claims: Use of a multicomponent catalyst comprising molybdenum, bismuth, iron, and cesium or thallium wherein the catalyst is prepared by the following steps: a) an aqueous solution of ammonium para molybdate is prepared; b) at least one of the materials for bismuth, iron and the components A (Ni, CO) and Y (Mg, Mn, Zn, Ba, Cr) are dissolved in an aqueous solution containing 0.01-0.36 mole of HNO₃ per mole of ammonium para molybdate of the solution prepared in a); c) the resulting aqueous nitric acid solution of step b) is added to the aqueous solution of step a) to form a slurry; which also contains materials for the cesium and/or thallium components, the amount of nitric acid referred to herein means the amount of nitric acid alone added as a solvent to the aqueous solution of the material, said nitric acid excluding nitric acid radicals usually contained as an anion in the materials for the catalyst, with the proviso that after the addition of nitric acid disclosed in point b), no further additions of nitric acid are made, for producing methacrolein and methacrylic acid by the gas-phase catalytic oxidation of isobutylene or tert-butanol with molecular oxygen. The use according to Claim 1, wherein said multicomponent catalyst comprises molybdenum, bismuth, iron, antimony and cesium or thallium, and said slurry contains also a material for the antimony component. The use according to Claim 1, wherein said multicomponent catalyst is represented by the formula: Mo a W b Bi c Fe d Sb e A f X g Y h Z i O j wherein Mo, W, Bi, Fe, Sb and O are molybdenum, tungsten, bismuth, iron, antimony and oxygen, respectively, A is at least one element selected from the group consisting of nickel and cobalt, X is at least one element selected from the group consisting of cesium and thallium, Y is at least one element selected from the group consisting of magnesium, manganese, zinc, barium and chromium, Z is at least one element selected from the group consisting of phosphorus, boron, sulfur, silicon, cerium, potassium and rubidium, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i and j are an atomic ratio of each element, and when a is 12, b is 0 to 2, c is 0.01 to 2, d is 0.5 to 5, e is 0.01 to 3, f is 1 to 12, g is 0.01 to 2, h is 0.01 to 10, i is 0 to 20, and j is the number of oxygen atoms necessary to satisfy the valence of each component, and said slurry comprises materials for the components of the catalyst.

Inventors: OH-KITA MOTOMU C O CENTRAL RES, TANIGUCHI YOSHIYUKI C O CENTRA, OH-KITA, MOTOMU, C/O CENTRAL RES. LAB., MITSUBISHI, TANIGUCHI, YOSHIYUKI, C/O CENTRAL RES. LAB.
Applicants: MITSUBISHI RAYON CO, MITSUBISHI RAYON CO., LTD.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B01J23
IPC codes: C07C51, C07C27, B01J23, C07C45, B01J27, C07B61, C07C57, C07C47