Synthesis of methyl methacrylate from coal-derived syngas: Quarterly report,, October 1-December 31, 1997

Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Eastman Chemical Company, and Bechtel collectively are developing a novel process for the synthesis of methyl methacrylate (MMA) from coal-derived syngas that consists of three steps of synthesis of a propionate, its condensation with formaldehyde, and esterification of resulting methacrylic acid (MAA) with methanol to produce MMA. Over the last quarter, Eastman developed two new processes which have resulted in two new invention reports. One process deals with carbonylation of benzyl ether which represents a model for coal liquefaction and the second focuses on the acceleration of carbonylation rates for propionic acid synthesis, via use of polar aprotic solvents. These two inventions are major improvements in the novel Mo-catalyzed homogeneous process for propionic acid synthesis technology, developed by Eastman. Over the last quarter, RTI completed three reaction cycles and two regeneration cycles as a part of long-term reaction regeneration cycle study on a 10% Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}/Si0{sub 2} catalyst, for vapor phase condensation reaction of formaldehyde with propionic acid