Acid catalytic effects in the chlorination of propanoic acid

Selective α-chlorination of propanoic acid to form 2-monochloropropanoic (MCA) and 2,2-dichloropropanoic acid (DCA) was investigated in a laboratory-scale, semibatch reactor at 90-130°C at atmospheric total pressure and in the presence of chlorosulfonic acid (CISO₃H) and 2,2-dichloroethanoic acid (DCA') as catalytic agents and oxygen as a radical scavenger. The decomposition of the catalyst was investigated with sulfur analysis and UV-spectrometry. The studies revealed that the majority of sulfur remains in the reaction mixture, but is converted to an inactive form during the chlorination. The reasons may be the decomposition of CISO₃H and its reaction with propanoic acid. The kinetic experiments revealed autocatalytic and parallel formation of MCA and DCA, the selectivity being independent of Cl₂ concentration in the liquid phase. The experiments with DCA' also demonstrated that DCA' has a catalytic effect on the chlorination. The experiments confirmed the validity of a previously proposed reaction scheme for α-chlorination, which comprises the formation of the reaction intermediate (propanoyl chloride) from propanoic acid and CISO₃H, the acid-catalyzed enolization of the acid and a hydroxyl-chlorine exchange reaction. The acid-catalyzed enolization is the rate determining step in the reaction sequence. The kinetic data were fitted to rate equations based on the reaction scheme. (C) 2000 Society of Chemical Industry.