06-20-02 00:45
No 323168
I just found a patent on a wacker process that uses methyl nitrite as a cocatalyst and O2 as the oxidant. It can be found in CA 97 (1982) 162364. Basically, the NO gas generated is mixed with O2 and bubbled through methanol to regenerate methyl nitrite. The gas is then bubbled back into the rxn mixture. The rate can probably be speeded up by adding Cu+2 ion. I'll try this method soon. PdCl2 can probably be substituted with Pd/C and a small amount of HCl to provide a solid catalyst that is recyclable.
