ABSTRACT
During the early 1980s, as a result of the oil shortage, much of the organic chemical research at The Dow Chemical Company focused on the development of coal-based chemistry, as well as synthetic fuels and hydrocarbon feedstocks. In addition, Dow was reevaluating and interested in enhancing the value of inexpensive hydrocarbon feedstocks from naphtha crackers. Two processes resulted from the development of this route. One process used a hydrochlorination reaction followed by a carbonylation reaction employing heterogeneous catalysis. The second process used hydrobromination followed by carbonylation employing homogeneous catalysis. This chapter briefly reviews both processes and then discusses recent developments in the homogeneous process that have added considerably to its versatility and economic feasibility. The homogeneous carbonylation process can also produce another important class of commercial methacrylates directly from simple raw materials-alkoxyalkylmethacrylates from 2-bromopropene and the appropriate glycol ether.
