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Reactions of ethylene oxide and ethanol in the presence of amberlyst 15: Products and product rate modeling
Author(s) -
Yamanis John,
Patton Bradley D.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450570309
Subject(s) - ethylene oxide , chemistry , ethanol , catalysis , sulfonic acid , oxide , ethylene , ion exchange resin , organic chemistry , polymer , medicinal chemistry , copolymer
The reactions of ethylene oxide and ethanol catalyzed by Amberlyst 15 (H + ) were studied at 60°, 90°, and 120°C. The concentration ranges investigated at 90°C were 0.9–5 and 0.3–6 mol/1 for the oxide and ethanol, respectively, while the mass of resin taken was in the range of 60 to 28 g. It was found that ethylene oxide reacts with the sulfonic acid groups of the resin to form polymeric ester species which cause catalyst deactivation. Despite the deactivation several reactions occur at 90°C yielding 2‐ethoxyethanol, 2‐(2‐ethoxyethoxy)‐ethanol and 1,4‐dioxane. Two parallel reaction paths and the overall rate model r = r = C 1 C 2 C 3 /(β 1 C 1 2+ β 2 C 2 ) are proposed for the formation of 2‐ethoxyethanol. A back‐biting mechanism is tentatively proposed for the formation of 1,4‐dioxane from the polymer ester species and the model r = βC 3 for its rate of formation.