Question

How is phenol manufactured by the Cumene process?

Answer 1

Hint: Cumene process is a widely used method for the production of phenol. It involves synthesizing two relatively cheap compounds, viz. Benzene and propylene, into two extremely useful products like phenol and acetone.

Complete step by step answer:
Before we move forward with the solution of the question, let us understand some basic concepts first:
-Phenols are cyclic organic compounds that are formed when one or more sites on a benzene ring, substitute their hydrogen atoms in exchange for the corresponding number of -OH or alcoholic functional groups. Now, phenols are formed as a product in various reactions, but it is not possible to completely extract all of the phenol formed from these reactions.
Hence, certain methods are developed just to maximise the extraction of phenol from a given chemical reaction. One such process is known as the Cumene process.
-Cumene process for manufacturing phenol has many names including cumene – phenol process and Hock process. This method is used for producing both phenol and acetone. The reactants used in this reaction are benzene and propylene. Another important reactant required is the oxygen, which is obtained from the air. Also, to be included is a small amount of radical initiators. This method is used all over the world for the production of phenol. The chemical reaction involved in this process is as follows:

Note:
The most important chemical made from phenol is bisphenol A, which is used to make the polycarbonates. Phenol is also catalytically reduced to cyclohexanol, which is used in the manufacture of polyamides 6 and 6,6.