Oxidation of alkyl aromatic compounds to aromatic acids in an aqueous medium
The present invention pertains to an improved method of oxidizing substituted aromatic compounds (such as p xylene) to their corresponding aromatic acids (such as terephthalic acid). The improvement involves carrying out the oxidation reaction in an aqueous medium, wherein the aqueous medium contains at least 30 percent water, preferably up to 30 percent surfactant and preferably a low molecular weight material containing a hydrophilic end group as a co-surfactant. The reaction is carried out at a pH of less than 3.0.
The Dow Chemical Company
C
C07C
inventional
Kenneth A. Thomas H. Daniel Patrick Christopher J. Luciano Guo-shuh John Sergio John
Burdett Kalantar Green Tucker Piras Lee Schena Klier