The Reaction between Hydrocarbon and Hydrogen Cyanide in Silent Electrical Discharge. III. The Reaction of Ethylene or Propylene with Hydrogen Cyanide

Abstract

Abstract The present investigation was undertaken to find out whether or not the relative amounts of acrylonitrile obtained by the reaction between ethylene and hydrogen cyanide in a silent discharge are affected by the substances (Hg(CN)2, Cu, CuCN, Al, Zn and Fe) placed in a glass filter of the special discharge tube, and to examine the possibility of the direct introduction of a cyano radical into propylene by means of the silent discharge. The yield of acrylonitrile depended upon the packing materials in the glass filter. When the discharge wall of the glass filter was filled with Hg(CN)2, the yield of acrylonitrile was at its maximum. When a mixture of propylene and hydrogen cyanide was discharged in an ozonizer in the absence of air, the main liquid products were crotononitrile, methacrylonitrile, and n-propyl cyanide. Besides these compounds, the reaction products were confirmed to consist of isopropyl cyanide, acetonitrile, acrylonitrile, 4-methyl-1-pentene, 2,3-dimethylbutane, 1,5-hexadiene, 2-methylpentane, 1-hexene, n-hexane, and gaseous products. Judging from the relative concentration of each compound in the reaction products, it may be said that 2-methylvinyl, isopropenyl, propyl, allyl, isopropyl, and cyano radicals are the main intermediates in this reaction system.