Sustainable process for adipic acid production from cyclohexene in microemulsion

Geoffroy Lesage (1, 2) , Isariebel Quesada-Peñate (2) , Sophie Franceschi-Messant (3, 4) , Emile Pérez (4, 3) , Jean-Christophe Garrigues (4, 3) , Martine Poux (2) , Patrick Cognet (2)

1 IEM - Institut Européen des membranes
2 LGC - Laboratoire de Génie Chimique
3 IMRCP - SMODD - IMRCP - Systèmes Moléculaires Organisés et Développement Durable
4 IMRCP - Interactions moléculaires et réactivité chimique et photochimique

Adipic acid appears as an intermediate compound for the synthesis of polyamides and preferentially for the production of nylon-6,6 polyamide. It can be synthesized by the oxidation of cyclohexene by hydrogen peroxide in microemulsion media which has the main advantage to lead a better contact between the two phases thus increasing the yield of the reaction. The microemulsion is generated by stearyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (C18) as a surfactant avoiding the use of harmful organic solvents and phase-transfer catalysts. The reaction is performed under mild conditions (85 °C, 8 h) with sodium tungstate, - a no heavy metal catalyst - leading to the production of adipic acid in high yield (>80%). By recycling the catalyst and the surfactant, the process becomes truly green.

Mots clés: Adipic acid; Cyclohexene oxydation; Green process; Microemulsion

Domaines: Génie chimique; Génie des procédés

Geoffroy Lesage, Isariebel Quesada-Peñate, Sophie Franceschi-Messant, Emile Pérez, Jean-Christophe Garrigues, et al.. Sustainable process for adipic acid production from cyclohexene in microemulsion. Catalysis Today, 2020, 346, pp.40-45. ⟨10.1016/j.cattod.2019.02.065⟩. ⟨hal-02341096⟩