摘要 |
<p>Disclosed is a process for the production of cyclopropanecarbonitrile (CPCN) by feeding concurrently cyclopropanecarboxaldehyde (CPCA) and hydroxylamine aqueous solution to a reaction zone which contains formic acid. The process avoids the formation and accumulation of large amounts CPCA oxime intermediates which exhibit a very high energy release upon thermal decomposition. Additional embodiments of the invention comprise the steps of (1) synthesizing CPCN by feeding concurrently CPCA and hydroxylamine aqueous solution to a reaction zone containing formic acid to form a reaction product mixture comprising CPCN and (2) isolating and recovering the CPCN by contacting the reaction product mixture with a base to obtain a mixture comprising an organic phase containing CPCN and an aqueous phase. The removal of an azeotrope vapor comprising CPCN, water and a minor amount of formic acid from the reaction product mixture reduces the amount of formic acid consumed in the process as well as the amount of formate salts generated by the process.</p> |