Ethylene: The organic chemical industry's most important building block

Abstract

How many pounds of organic chemicals do we produce yearly in the U.S.? The answer is 250 billion pounds per year-more than 1000 pounds for every person in the U.S. It is hard for even a chemist to visualize how each of us in this country uses a half-ton of chemicals yearly. We'd certainly be overwhelmed if someone dumped our share on our front lawn.In fact, of course, those chemicals do not appear on our front lawn except perhaps as fertilizer and weed killers. But they do appear in the clothes we wear, the homes we live in, the furnishings in those homes, the offices and plants we work in, the food we eat, our automobiles and airplanes, the medical equipment that is used to make us well, the sports equipment that gives us recreational pleasure, and, of course, in the vehicles that go to the moon and that monitor the planets. In other words, the more than 1000 pounds of organic chemicals produced for each of us yearly provides the basis for modern technology.

Accessing Alkyl- and Alkenylcyclopentanes from Cr-Catalyzed Ethylene Oligomerization Using 2-Phosphinophosphinine Ligands

“…Ethylene is a key starting material in the chemical industry, , including in the production of valuable linear α-olefins (LAO) . Nonselective processes for the production of LAO, such as the SHOP process, have been complemented by selective processes that can be tuned to exactly match market demand, and industrial processes for ethylene dimerization, , trimerization, and tetramerization , have all been commercialized .…”

“…Synthesis of [Cr(2)(CO) 4 ] (6)[Cr(NBD)(CO) 4 ] (109 mg, 0.427 mmol) and one equivalent of 2 (126 mg, 0.427 mmol) were reacted as above at 65°C for 24 h yielding the product as red crystals (62 mg, 0.135 mmol, 32%) 1. H NMR (400 MHz, C 6 D 6 ): δ = 7.71-7.61 (m, 1H, 6-H), 7.55-7.51 (m, 4H, o-PPh 2 ), 7.13-6.99 (m, 7H, 5-H & m,p-PPh 2 ), 6.37 (bs, 1H, 4-H), 1.52 (s, 3H, 3-CH 3 ); 13 C NMR (100 MHz, C 6 D 6 ,): δ = 230.3 (d, J = 13.6 Hz, CO), 228.4 (dd, J = 11.2, 3.2 Hz, CO), 223.0 (dd, J = 17.6, 11.2 Hz, CO), 166.9 (dd, J = 15.2, 1.6 Hz, phosphinine C) 149.6 (dd, J = 28.0, 20.0 Hz, phosphinine CH), 146.9 (dd, J = 12.8, 7.2 Hz, phosphinine C), 140.6 (dd, J = 16.0, 3.2 Hz, phosphinine CH), 133.5 (dd, J = 28.8, 10.4 Hz, ipso-Ph C), 132.1 (d, J = 12.0 Hz, PPh 2 ), 130.8 (d, J = 2.4 Hz, PPh 2 ), 129.5 (d, J = 9.6 Hz, PPh 2 ), 128.6-128.2 (m, phosphinine CH and C 6 D 6 overlapping), 21.9 (t, J = 7.2 Hz CH 3 ); 31 P NMR (162 MHz, C 6 D 6 ): δ = 250.3 (d, 2 J PP = 33.8 Hz, 1-P), 41.8 (d, 2 J PP = 33.P); HRMS (ASAP/QTof) m/z Calc.…”

Electrochemical Ceramic Membrane Reactors in Future Energy and Chemical Process Engineering

“…) suggest that ethylene, ammonia, and styrene could be some of the most promising candidates for production using ECMRs as they score high on one or more considered criteria. Ethylene is one of the most versatile and largest volume building blocks in the chemical industry . As a result, production of ethylene using ECMRs has been the focus of several studies .…”

Thermodynamics of Iron(II) and Substrate Binding to the Ethylene-Forming Enzyme

“…E thylene is an important molecule for the formation of a variety of plastics and other materials. 1 Traditional methods for producing ethylene from petroleum and petroleum byproducts have serious impacts on the environment. 2 This fact has led to increasing efforts in the search for alternative, environmentally friendly methods for CH 2 CH 2 production.…”

“…Ethylene is an important molecule for the formation of a variety of plastics and other materials . Traditional methods for producing ethylene from petroleum and petroleum byproducts have serious impacts on the environment .…”