Patent Description:
β-phenylethanol (PEA), also known as <NUM>-phenylethanol, phenylethanol and beta-phenylethanol, is a simple aromatic primary alcohol. It is a colorless liquid at room temperature, with a light, delicate and long-lasting rose aroma. It was first discovered as a characteristic aroma compound in plant flowers, and naturally existed in aromatic oils such as neroli, rose oil and geranium oil.

β-phenylethanol is widely used in various food flavors and tobacco flavors because of its soft, pleasant and long-lasting rose aroma. It is a main raw material for the preparation of rose-flavored food additives and rose-flavored flavors. The usage amount of β-phenylethanol as a fragrance on a global scale is second only to vanillin. At the same time, due to that β-phenylethanol is stable in alkali condition and insoluble in water, it is often used in lotions and soaps. In addition, since β-phenylethanol has good antibacterial efficacy, it can also be used in eyedrops and skin care products.

At present, β-phenylethanol on the market is basically chemically synthesized. The main chemical synthesis methods for β-phenylethanol are the benzene-oxirane method (Friedel-Crafts reaction) and the styrene oxide (STO) hydrogenation method. In the international market, benzene-oxirane products account for about <NUM>%, and styrene oxide hydrogenation products account for about <NUM>%. The products produced by the benzene-oxirane method contain different trace impurities, and the aroma varies greatly, and the quality has not yet reached the standard of the fragrance. Therefore, the styrene oxide hydrogenation method is mainly employed in the fragrance industry.

For the preparation of β-phenylethanol by hydrogenation of styrene oxide, both homogeneous and heterogeneous methods have been reported in the literatures. The homogeneous method is hardly used in actual production due to problems such as difficulty in catalyst recovery and difficulty in product separation. Most patent documents are devoted to the research and development of heterogeneous catalytic processes. In the heterogeneous catalytic process, how to improve the selectivity of β-phenylethanol and the life of the catalyst have always been hot spots and difficult points. The key to improve the selectivity of β-phenylethanol is to ensure good effect of hydrogen mass transfer. Patent <CIT> describes a method for preparing β-phenylethanol by using skeletal Ni and Pd as catalysts, and the comparative examples show that when Ni alone is used as a catalyst, the by-product ethylbenzene content is as high as <NUM>%; when Pd alone is used as a catalyst, it will produce about <NUM>% phenylacetaldehyde; the yields of β-phenylethanol are all low, only about <NUM>%; meanwhile, if the reaction solution contains a large amount of phenylacetaldehyde, phenylacetaldehyde will further react with the product β-phenylethanol to produce high-boiling substances that block the catalyst pores and cause catalyst deactivation. Patents <CIT> and <CIT> propose the addition of auxiliary agents such as NaOH, Na<NUM>CO<NUM>, KOH and the like to the reaction system. Although the selectivity and yield of β-phenylethanol are greatly improved, the addition of the auxiliary alkali shortens the life of the catalyst and causes many difficulties such as difficulty in separating the later products, easily blocking towers. Patent <CIT> proposes to prepare β-phenylethanol under alkaline conditions using water as a solvent, Raney Ni or Co as a catalyst; However, this process requires a large amount of water, and at the same time an emulsifier is required to be added to adjust the compatibility of water and styrene oxide, which brings a great difficulty for the separation of later products. At present, styrene oxide hydrogenation to produce β-phenylethanol is carried out in a reactor or a tubular reactor. Since styrene oxide hydrogenation is a strong exothermic reaction, in order to control the heat of reaction, it is often necessary to add a solvent. Solvents are required for the β-phenylethanol preparation process proposed by the patents <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, etc., which reduces the production efficiency, complicates the product separation process and increases the cost of solvent removal.

In summary, the existing technologies all have certain deficiencies to varying degrees, for example, the problems such as the poor mass transfer effect leads to the need to add auxiliary agents to improve the selectivity, but at the same time, the catalyst life is reduced, the product separation is difficult, and even the product quality is affected; if the catalyst structure and performance are not good, the catalyst is easy to deactivate, the catalyst life is short; if the heat transfer limit of the reactor requires solvent, the separation cost is increased. Therefore, the development of a highly efficient reactor and a highly selective and long-life catalyst are important for improving the preparation method of β-phenylethanol.

<CIT> discloses a microreactor suitable for carrying out gas-liquid reactions in which the Y-shaped channels are both composed of one microtube.

<CIT> relates to a method and a device for the parallel study of chemical reactions in at least two spatially separated reaction spaces. The device comprises: (a) at least two spatially separated reaction spaces; (b) on the reaction space input side, at least one common educt feed for the reaction on the reaction space output side, at least one connection per reaction space to at least one holding gas feed common to all the reaction spaces, or subsets of them; (e) on the reaction space output side, and downstream of the connection to the holding gas feed according to (d) in the product flow direction, at least one restrictor per reaction space.

<CIT> discloses a laboratory reactor for the kinetic study of catalytic reactions calling for a gaseous reaction phase and a liquid reaction phase, characterized by a capillary shape, a substantially uniform arrangement of the catalyst grains along the reactor, with, on average, every cross-section of the reactor comprising a defined and constant number of catalyst grains, and this number of grains being between <NUM> and <NUM>.

<CIT> relates to a method for preparing a supported nano copper nickel catalyst used in an oxidative dehydrogenation reaction of diethanol amine. The catalytic reaction is performed in an autoclave.

<CIT> relates to an improved process for the preparation of <NUM>-phenyl ethanol by catalytic hydrogenation of styrene oxide with supported platinum group metal catalysts in the presence of an organic as well as inorganic base as a promoter, and using alcohol as a solvent. The catalytic reaction is performed in an autoclave.

The present invention provides a reaction system according to claim <NUM> for the hydrogenation of styrene oxide to prepare β-phenylethanol. The reaction system comprises a micro reaction channel loaded with a catalyst. In the specific embodiments of the present invention, the catalyst has uniform macropores, which can effectively prevent the blockage of catalyst pores and prolong catalyst life. The present invention still further provides a method according to claim <NUM> for the hydrogenation of styrene oxide to prepare β-phenylethanol. In the specific embodiments of the present invention, the method has relatively mild reaction conditions and simple product separation, and is easy to industrialize for scale-up production.

The present invention adopts the following technical solutions:
A reaction system for preparing β-phenylethanol, wherein the reaction system comprises: a micro reaction channel loaded with a catalyst, wherein the micro reaction channel is a coiled tube having a microsized diameter and used as reaction site; a Y-shaped channel communicated with one end of the micro reaction channel, wherein the two channels of the Y-shaped channel are respectively one gas channel for introducing a gas reaction raw material and one liquid channel for introducing a liquid reaction raw material; an outlet filtration unit communicated with the other end of the micro reaction channel, wherein the outlet filtration unit is used for preventing the catalyst in the micro reaction channel from passing through and allowing liquid product and gas to flow out; a gas-liquid separation system communicated with the outlet filtration unit, wherein the gas-liquid separation system is used for separating the liquid product from the gas; and an ultrasonic field generator for applying an ultrasonic field to the micro reaction channel; wherein the Y-shaped channel has a channel diameter of <NUM>-<NUM>; the gas channel and the liquid channel of the Y-shaped channel are both composed of a plurality of evenly distributed thin tubes; the number of the thin tubes per channel is <NUM>-<NUM>; the micro reaction channel has a diameter of <NUM>-<NUM>; and the outlet filtration unit is an etched silicon column having an average pore diameter of <NUM>-<NUM>.

The reaction system also comprises a preheater(s) for preheating the gas reaction raw material and the liquid reaction raw material and a heater(s) for heating the micro reaction channel.

The ultrasonic field generator has an ultrasonic power of <NUM>-<NUM> W, preferably <NUM>-<NUM> W, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM> W.

The Y-shaped channel has a channel diameter of <NUM>-<NUM>, preferably <NUM>-<NUM>, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM>; the gas channel and the liquid channel of the Y-shaped channel are both composed of a plurality of evenly distributed thin tubes (the thin tube is also called as stream); the number of streams per channel is <NUM>-<NUM>, more preferably <NUM>- <NUM>; preferably, the number and distribution of the thin tubes of the gas channel and the number and distribution of the thin tubes of the liquid channel are exactly the same; the gas reaction raw material and the liquid reaction raw material are respectively divided into a plurality of streams through two channels of the Y-shaped channel and then collected into the micro reaction channel; the micro reaction channel has a diameter of <NUM>-<NUM>, preferably <NUM>-<NUM>, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM>; the outlet filtration unit is filled with an etched silicon column having an average pore diameter of <NUM>-<NUM>, preferably <NUM>-<NUM>, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM>. Wherein, the etched silicon column is a cylindrical silicon material having a porous structure formed by etching.

In a preferred embodiment, the reaction system can meet the need of adjusting productivity by employing a parallel form.

A catalyst to be used in the reaction system for preparing β-phenylethanol may be a nanosized self-assembled catalyst with Al<NUM>O<NUM> as carrier, Ni element and Cu element as active components; wherein, based on the mass of the catalyst, the content of Ni element is <NUM>-<NUM> wt%, preferably <NUM>-<NUM> wt%, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM> wt%; the content of Cu element is <NUM>-<NUM> wt%, preferably <NUM>-3wt%, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM> wt%; the balance is Al<NUM>O<NUM> carrier.

The catalyst has an average pore diameter of <NUM>-<NUM>, preferably <NUM>-<NUM>, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM>.

The preparation process of the catalyst is:.

A method for preparing β-phenylethanol, comprising the following steps: (<NUM>) heating a reactor loaded with catalyst by introducing pre-heated hydrogen gas; (<NUM>) introducing styrene oxide to perform a hydrogenation reaction to obtain β-phenylethanol; the catalyst is a nanosized self-assembled catalyst with Al<NUM>O<NUM> as carrier, Ni element and Cu element as active components; wherein, based on the mass of the catalyst, the content of Ni element is <NUM>-<NUM> wt%, preferably <NUM>-<NUM> wt%, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM> wt%; the content of Cu element is <NUM>-<NUM> wt%, preferably <NUM>-3wt%, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM> wt%; the balance is Al<NUM>O<NUM> carrier; and the reactor used is the aforementioned reaction system.

Also included prior to said step (<NUM>) is a reduction step of reducing the catalyst in the reactor.

The reduction step is: firstly raising the temperature of the micro reaction channel to <NUM>-<NUM>, keeping for <NUM>-<NUM>, then raising the temperature to <NUM>-<NUM>°Cand keeping for <NUM>-<NUM>, to complete the reduction, wherein the hydrogen gas space velocity during the reduction process is <NUM>-<NUM>-<NUM>, the pressure is <NUM>-<NUM> MPa (gauge pressure), and then lowering the temperature to room temperature in hydrogen atmosphere. Wherein, the gauge pressure refers to the portion exceeding atmospheric pressure.

The temperature of the pre-heated hydrogen gas in step (<NUM>) is <NUM>-<NUM>, preferably <NUM>-<NUM>, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM>.

In step (<NUM>), the styrene oxide is introduced by means of a pump. The flow rate of the hydrogen gas in step (<NUM>) is <NUM>-<NUM><NUM>/h, preferably <NUM>-<NUM><NUM>/h, more preferably <NUM>- <NUM><NUM>/h; and the feed rate of styrene oxide is <NUM>-<NUM>/ h, preferably <NUM>-<NUM>/h, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM>/h; the molar ratio of hydrogen gas to styrene oxide is <NUM>-<NUM>, preferably <NUM>-<NUM>, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM>.

In step (<NUM>), the reaction temperature is <NUM>-<NUM>, preferably <NUM>-<NUM>, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM>; the reaction pressure (gauge pressure) is <NUM>-<NUM> Mpa, preferably <NUM>-<NUM> Mpa, more preferably <NUM>-<NUM> Mpa.

The beneficial effects of the specific embodiments of the present invention are:
The β-phenylethanol preparation technique is carried out in the reaction system with an ultrasonic field, and the micro reaction channel has a large specific surface area, which is beneficial to sufficient mass transfer. Another advantage of a large specific surface area lies in that the heat transfer capability is strong, the reaction heat of the hydrogenation of styrene oxide can be removed rapidly, and the reaction is allowed to be carried out under solvent-free conditions, which reduces the process of solvent removal during product refining, simplifies the product separation process, reduces production costs, and meanwhile ensures the genuine flavor of the product; at the same time, the effect of the applied ultrasonic field further enhances the mass transfer, which makes it possible to ensure high selectivity and high yield without adding auxiliary agents in the preparation of β-phenylethanol, and the selectivity of β-phenylethanol can reach <NUM>% or more. The auxiliary agent removal process is reduced, which makes the product separation process simple and the cost low. The extremely large specific surface area of the micro reaction channel, coupled with the mass transfer enhancement of the ultrasonic field, allows the reaction to conduct under mild conditions, reducing equipment input and safety risks. With the reaction system, the equipment has a small floor space and no amplification effect, and multiple reactors can be connected in parallel to flexibly configure the production capacity.

In the specific embodiments of the present invention, a macroporous Ni-Cu/Al<NUM>O<NUM> nanosized self-assembled catalyst is adopted, and the catalyst has a large pore size and uniformity, which can effectively prevent high-boiling substances such as acetals formed during the reaction from blocking the catalyst pores, and at the same time the disturbance provided by the ultrasonic field can further prevent the deposition of high-boiling substances on the catalyst surface, which greatly prolongs the life of the catalyst and reduces the unit consumption of the catalyst; In addition, in the Ni-Cu/Al<NUM>O<NUM> nanosized self-assembled catalyst, the addition of Cu will effectively promote the hydrogenation of phenylacetaldehyde, reduce the probability of phenylacetaldehyde reacting with β-phenylethanol to form high-boiling substances, lower the high-boiling substances content in the reaction solution, reduce the amount of tar and prolong the life of the catalyst.

The ultrasonic field power range selected by the present invention can not only ensure the effect of enhancing the mass transfer, but also will not cause the reactor to vibrate violently. The reasonable combination of the number and diameter of Y-shaped channel and the diameter of the micro reaction channel ensure the mass transfer heat transfer effect, so that the reaction can be carried out without solvent or additives. The preferred catalyst pore size range ensures the life of the catalyst without affecting catalyst strength and selectivity. Reasonable addition amount of Cu can effectively promote the phenylacetaldehyde hydrogenation, reduce the formation of high-boiling substances, prolong the life of the catalyst, and will not affect the reaction rate of main reaction with the ring opening of styrene oxide.

The present invention will now be described in the following with reference to specific embodiments. It is to be noted herein that the examples are only used to further illustrate the present invention, and are not to be construed as limiting the protection scope of the present invention. Any non-substantial improvement or adjustment made to the present invention according to its contents shall be included in the protection of the present invention.

The following are the sources of the main raw materials and instruments used in the examples:
Polyisobutylene maleic acid triethanolamine ester: SINOPEC Fushun Research Institute of Petroleum and petrochemicals; Base oil for lubricating oil: South Korea SK Lubricating Oil Company; Urea: Panjin Zhongrun Chemical Co. ; Al(NO<NUM>)<NUM>·<NUM><NUM>O: Huainan Kedi-chem Technology Co. ; Cu(NO<NUM>)<NUM>·<NUM><NUM>O: Shanghai Aladdin Bio-chem Technology Co. ; Ni (NO<NUM>)<NUM>·<NUM><NUM>O: Shanghai Aladdin Bio-chem Technology Co. ; styrene oxide: Aladdin Industrial Corporation; hydrogen gas: Yantai Wanhua Huasheng Gas Co. ; sodium hydroxide: Xilong Chemical Co. ; etched silicon column: Suzhou CSE Semiconductor Equipment Technology Co. ; ultrasonic field generator: Nanjing Hanzhou Technology Co.

The average pore diameter can be measured by nitrogen adsorption-desorption method (BET), and the content of the metal component in the catalyst can be measured by ICP (Ion-Coupling Broad Spectrum Method).

The sample was diluted with HPLC grade ethanol and then subject to GC analysis on SHIMADZU AOC-20i using HP-<NUM> (<NUM>%-cyanopropyl-aryl-polysiloxane, <NUM>×<NUM>×<NUM>) capillary chromatographic column, FID detector. The inlet temperature is <NUM>, the detector temperature is <NUM>, and the column temperature is controlled by programmed temperature: the initial column temperature is maintained at <NUM> for <NUM>, and the temperature is raised to <NUM> at <NUM>/min for <NUM> and the temperature is raised to <NUM> at <NUM>/min. The column pressure is <NUM> kpa, the column flow rate is <NUM>/min, the split ratio is <NUM>:<NUM>, and the injection volume is <NUM>µL. Conversion rate and selectivity were calculated using the area normalization method.

The gas reaction raw material and the liquid reaction raw material are respectively divided into a plurality of streams through the two ends of the Y-shaped channel <NUM>, and then collected into the micro reaction channel <NUM> loaded with catalyst, and the outlet filtration unit <NUM> is filled with an etched silicon column for filtering the catalyst and the ultrasonic field generator <NUM> applies an ultrasonic field to the micro reaction channel.

As shown in <FIG>, the reaction system for preparing β-phenylethanol in the following examples comprises: a micro reaction channel <NUM>, which is a coiled tube having a microsized diameter and used as reaction site; a Y-shaped channel <NUM> communicated with one end of the micro reaction channel, wherein the two channels of the Y-shaped channel <NUM> are respectively one gas channel for introducing a gas reaction raw material and one liquid channel for introducing a liquid reaction raw material; an outlet filtration unit <NUM> communicated with the other end of the micro reaction channel, wherein the outlet filtration unit <NUM> is used for preventing the catalyst in the micro reaction channel <NUM> from passing through and allowing liquid product and gas to flow out; a gas-liquid separation system <NUM> communicated with the outlet filtration unit <NUM>, wherein the gas-liquid separation system <NUM> is used for separating the liquid product from the gas; an ultrasonic field generator <NUM> for applying an ultrasonic field to the micro reaction channel <NUM>; a preheater <NUM> for preheating the gas reaction raw material and the liquid reaction raw material and a heater <NUM> for heating the micro reaction channel.

Wherein, the ultrasonic field generator <NUM> is a box, the micro reaction channel <NUM> is horizontally fixed in the box; the Y-shaped channel <NUM> and the outlet filtration unit <NUM> are respectively located outside the box, and respectively located in the middle of the back side and the middle of the front side of the box; the gas channel and the liquid channel of the Y-shaped channel are located at the same height and are disposed in parallel with the bottom surface of the box; the heaters <NUM> are jacket type heaters and have a total of three sets, the heating elements are placed on the outside of the box by being respectively clamped on the left side and right side of the box, and preheater <NUM> has two preheaters which are respectively clamped on the gas channel and the liquid channel of the Y-shaped channel.

As shown in <FIG>, the micro reaction channel <NUM> is a coiled tube; as shown in <FIG>, the gas channel and the liquid channel of the Y-shaped channel are composed of a plurality of evenly distributed thin tubes, and the number and distribution of the thin tubes of the gas channel and the number and distribution of the thin tubes of the liquid channel are exactly the same.

Some specific parameters of the reaction system, such as ultrasonic power, the diameters of the Y-shaped channel and the micro reaction channel, etc., will be given in the specific examples.

Ni-Cu/Al<NUM>O<NUM> nanosized self-assembled catalyst CAT-<NUM>: based on the mass of the catalyst, the content of Ni was <NUM> wt%, the content of Cu was <NUM> wt%, and the average pore diameter of the catalyst was <NUM>.

As can be seen from the figure, under the process conditions of the present invention, the catalyst had a stable performance, long life and high product selectivity.

<NUM> Raney6800 catalyst (Grace), <NUM> styrene oxide and <NUM> ethanol were added to a reactor (model GSH-<NUM>, material <NUM>, the manufacturer is Weihai Chemical Machinery Co. ), and after the reactor was closed to replace the air while the pressure was maintained, hydrogen gas was introduced to perform the reaction, wherein the reaction temperature was <NUM>, the reaction pressure was <NUM> Mpa, the stirring speed was <NUM> rpm and the reaction time was <NUM>. After the reaction was completed, the reaction solution was sampled and analyzed, and the results are shown in Table <NUM>.

<NUM> Raney6800 catalyst (Grace), <NUM> styrene oxide, <NUM> ethanol and <NUM> NaOH were added to a reactor (model GSH-<NUM>, material <NUM>, the manufacturer is Weihai Chemical Machinery Co. ), and after the reactor was closed to replace the air while the pressure was maintained, hydrogen gas was introduced to perform the reaction, wherein the reaction temperature was <NUM>, the reaction pressure was <NUM> Mpa, the stirring speed was <NUM> rpm, and the reaction time was <NUM>. After the reaction was completed, the reaction solution was sampled and analyzed, and the results are shown in Table <NUM>. As can be seen from the table, the selectivity of β-phenylethanol is not ideal even under the condition of adding auxiliary agent NaOH, and the addition of the auxiliary agent will cause the bottom of the fractionating tower to be blocked during the separation process, and meanwhile will affect the product quality.

<NUM> Raney6800 catalyst (Grace) and <NUM> styrene oxide were added to a reactor (model GSH-<NUM>, material <NUM>, the manufacturer is Weihai Chemical Machinery Co. ), and after the reactor was closed to replace the air while the pressure was maintained and exchanged, hydrogen gas was introduced to perform the reaction, wherein the reaction temperature was <NUM>, the reaction pressure was <NUM> MPa, the stirring speed was <NUM> rpm, and the reaction time was <NUM>. After the reaction was completed, the reaction solution was sampled and analyzed, and the results are shown in Table <NUM>.

The hydrogenation reaction of styrene oxide was carried out in a common fixed bed with a diameter of <NUM> (model TORCH, material 316SS, manufacturer is Beijing Tuochuan Petrochemical Evaluation Device Technology Development Co. , reaction tube length is <NUM>), wherein the catalyst, catalyst reduction procedure, reaction temperature, pressure and space velocity were all the same as that in Example <NUM>, and the operation was continued for <NUM>. The reaction results are shown in <FIG>.

As can be seen from the figure, with the common fixed bed reactor, the reaction effect was significantly worse than that of the ultrasonic micro-packed bed reactor, and the selectivity of the product β-phenylethanol was obviously decreased.

The Ni-Cu/Al<NUM>O<NUM> nanosized self-assembled catalyst in Example <NUM> was replaced with Raney <NUM> (Grace), and the other process parameters were all the same as that in Example <NUM>, and the operation was continued for <NUM>. The reaction results are shown in <FIG>.

As can be seen from the figure, the performance of the catalyst Raney <NUM> was significantly inferior to that of the Ni-Cu/Al<NUM>O<NUM> nanosized self-assembled catalyst described in this patent.

The styrene oxide was hydrogenated without ultrasonic field and the other process parameters were all the same as that in Example <NUM>, and the operation was continued for <NUM>. The reaction results are shown in <FIG>.

As can be seen from the figure, after the ultrasonic field was removed, the reaction effect was significantly deteriorated and the catalyst stability was lowered.

Claim 1:
A reaction system for preparing β-phenylethanol, wherein the reaction system comprises:
a micro reaction channel loaded with a catalyst, wherein the micro reaction channel is a coiled tube having a microsized diameter and used as reaction site;
a Y-shaped channel communicated with one end of the micro reaction channel, wherein the two channels of the Y-shaped channel are respectively one gas channel for introducing a gas reaction raw material and one liquid channel for introducing a liquid reaction raw material;
an outlet filtration unit communicated with the other end of the micro reaction channel, wherein the outlet filtration unit is used for preventing the catalyst in the micro reaction channel from passing through and allowing liquid product and gas to flow out;
a gas-liquid separation system communicated with the outlet filtration unit, wherein the gas-liquid separation system is used for separating the liquid product from the gas; and
an ultrasonic field generator for applying an ultrasonic field to the micro reaction channel; wherein the Y-shaped channel has a channel diameter of <NUM>-<NUM>;
the gas channel and the liquid channel of the Y-shaped channel are both composed of a plurality of evenly distributed thin tubes;
the number of the thin tubes per channel is <NUM>-<NUM>;
the micro reaction channel has a diameter of <NUM>-<NUM>; and
the outlet filtration unit is an etched silicon column having an average pore diameter of <NUM>-<NUM>.