US 7,550,627 B2
	Processes for producing aromatic dicarboxylic acids
Gino Georges Lavoie, Kingsport, Tenn. (US); Robert Thomas Hembre, Johnson City, Tenn. (US); Charles Edwan Sumner, Jr., Kingsport, Tenn. (US); Joseph Nathaniel Bays, Kingsport, Tenn. (US); Daniel Burts Compton, Kingsport, Tenn. (US); Brent Alan Tennant, Kingsport, Tenn. (US); Bryan Wayne Davenport, Columbia, S.C. (US); David Lange, Irmo, S.C. (US); and Thomas Richard Floyd, Kingsport, Tenn. (US)
Assigned to Eastman Chemical Company, Kingsport, Tenn. (US)
Filed on Mar. 08, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/75,009.
Prior Publication US 2006/0205975 A1, Sep. 14, 2006
Int. Cl. C07C 51/16 (2006.01); C07C 63/00 (2006.01)

U.S. Cl. 562—413  [562/480]

25 Claims

1. A process for producing an aromatic dicarboxylic acid, the process comprising combining in a reaction medium a dialkyl aromatic, a solvent comprising water and a saturated organic acid having from 2-4 carbon atoms, and an oxygen-containing gas, at a temperature from 130° C. to 150° C., in the presence of a catalyst composition comprising cobalt, manganese, zirconium, and bromine, wherein the weight ratio of cobalt to manganese in the reaction mixture is from about 10 to about 400, wherein zirconium is present in an amount ranging from 300 ppm to 1500 ppm with respect to the weight of the liquid in the reaction medium.