Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
BUTADIENE DERIVATIVES
C
YCLOOCTADIENE
AND
C
YCLODODECATRIENE
Uses
Cyclooctadiene is reacted with bromine to make fire-
retardants. Cyclododecane is oxidized with air and then
nitric acid to make a diacid containing 12 carbons. This
acid is used to prepare some types of nylon, and its esters
are used in synthetic lubricating oils.
Manufacture
CH
CH
2
catalyst
=
+
2CH
2
CH-CH-CH
2
cyclooctadiene
vinylcylohexene
hydrogen
catalyst
catalyst
=
3CH
2
CH-CH-CH
2
cyclododecatriene
cyclododecane
Supplier
DuPont.
Whether butadiene reacts with itself to give
linear polymers
or 8- or 12-
carbon rings is a function of the catalyst and conditions used. Development
of catalysts needed to give the desired products is the job of catalyst research
chemists. Although
catalysis
is critically important in the chemical industry
and much work has been done on it in research laboratories for many years,
catalyst development remains more of an art than a predictable science, and
the chemists involved in this type of research use methods they have learned
experimentally, not from topics or in classrooms.
