Volume 39, Issue 10 pp. 1867-1874
Research Article

Kinetics of Isophorone Synthesis via Self-Condensation of Supercritical Acetone

Jun Mei

Jun Mei

College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

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Zhirong Chen

Zhirong Chen

College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

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Shenfeng Yuan

Shenfeng Yuan

College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

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Jianyong Mao

Jianyong Mao

Zhejiang NHU Company Ltd., Xinchang, China.

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Haoran Li

Haoran Li

Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

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Hong Yin

Corresponding Author

Hong Yin

College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.Search for more papers by this author
First published: 24 May 2016
Citations: 12

Abstract

A kinetic study on isophorone synthesis via self-condensation of supercritical acetone catalyzed by aqueous KOH in a tubular flow reactor was conducted. The intention was to improve the isophorone selectivity, with the main approach to reduce the by-products higher-boiling than isophorone. A higher isophorone selectivity was obtained with increased reaction temperature. The structures of main products were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. The key reaction pathways and a corresponding kinetic model were proposed. The fitted apparent activation energies indicated the reason of isophorone selectivity improvement in that high temperature favors reversion of reversible by-products.

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