Synthesis and Production
Phthalic anhydride was first reported in 1836 by Auguste Laurent. It is presently obtained by catalytic oxidation of ortho-xylene and naphthalene ("Gibbs phthalic anhydride process"):
- C6H4(CH3)2 + 3 O2 → C6H4(CO)2O + 3 H2O
- C10H8 + 4.5 O2 → C6H4(CO)2O + 2 H2O + 2 CO2
The catalyst that is used for the oxidation of xylene is a modified vanadium pentoxide (V2O5). When separating the phthalic anhydride from byproducts such as o-xylene in water, or maleic anhydride, a series of “switch condensers” is required. Phthalic anhydride can also be prepared from phthalic acid:
Read more about this topic: Phthalic Anhydride
Famous quotes containing the words synthesis and/or production:
“The spider-mind acquires a faculty of memory, and, with it, a singular skill of analysis and synthesis, taking apart and putting together in different relations the meshes of its trap. Man had in the beginning no power of analysis or synthesis approaching that of the spider, or even of the honey-bee; but he had acute sensibility to the higher forces.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
“By bourgeoisie is meant the class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage labor. By proletariat, the class of modern wage laborers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labor power in order to live.”
—Friedrich Engels (1820–1895)