Development and semicommercial implementation of an environmentally benign, hydrogen peroxide mediated oxidation of aliphatic alcohols

A process for the oxidation of an aliphatic alcohol (primary alcohol in C12-C15 region, substrate selected on the basis of a customer requirement) was developed and scaled up from laboratory (100 mL and 1 L scale) to bench (CR26 reactor) and to semicommercial scale (1000 litre) for toll manufacturing purposes. This oxidation was performed using hydrogen peroxide and a transition metal catalyst under phase transfer conditions. Although hydrogen peroxide mediated oxidation is a potentially hazardous process, the process was successfully scaled up using additional experimental data (from laboratory and bench scale), simple mathematical modelling, and simulation of the hydrodynamics of the multiphase system. The product acid from a C13 primary alcohol could be obtained at alcohol conversions exceeding 95% in selectivities approaching 100%.