Organic Process Research & Development
Article
In applying the Langmuir−Hinshelwood model to this
reaction system, the individual equilibrium constants for both
the adsorption and desorption of each of the species present in
the reaction need to be considered as well as the fundamental
reaction steps, described in Scheme 1. These processes are
shown in Figure 1 which also describes each phase present in
Table 1. Kinetic parameters obtained from DynoChem 2011
using the Langmuir−Hinshelwood model
rate
constant
(L/mol·s)
equilibrium
constant
(L/mol)
activation
energy
(kJ/mol)
a
step
H2 + cat = H2cat
b
50000
166
8
b
Nitro + cat = Nitrocat
50000
b
Nitroso + cat = Nitrosocat
Hydroxyl + cat = Hydroxylcat
Product + cat = Productcat
50000
7652
4
b
50000
b
50000
14
Nitrocat + H2cat > Nitrosocat +
H2O + cat
3013
4148
4901
27
5
Nitrosocat + H2cat > Hydroxylcat
c
+ cat
Hydroxylcat + H2cat > Productcat
67
c
+ H2O + cat
a
The symbol “=” is used to denote a reversible reaction, while “>”
b
denotes an irreversible reaction in the forward direction. Parameter
values were manually defined and not obtained through fitting to
c
experimental data. Steps are not rate-limiting therefore, kinetic
parameter values are arbitrary and not statistically significant.
(Table 1). These activation energies were then successfully
used to predict reaction outcomes at other temperatures (e.g.,
30 °C) demonstrating the ability to accurately model the
temperature dependency of the system.
In order to model the heat flow of the reaction, once all of
the kinetic parameters had been fitted, the heats of reaction
(ΔH) of the three chemical transformations were fitted to
experimentally obtained heat flow data. This attempt yielded no
advantage, in terms of statistical significance, over simply using
standard literature values for the heats of these transformations.
As such it was decided to use the literature values moving
forward.
Figure 1. A graphical representation of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood
type kinetic model within DynoChem 2011. The symbol “=” is used to
denote a reversible reaction while “>” denotes an irreversible reaction
in the forward direction. Both aniline 4 and amide 5 have been
combined into a single species, product.
the system, the constituents comprising those phases along
with any reactions taking place. All heat- and mass-transfer
statements between the phases are also shown.
Development of the Physical Model. The kinetic model
was then expanded to include the physical aspects of the
system, including the equipment used, namely the hydrogen
dosing system and the heat exchanger. In addition, the
relationship between agitation rate and the mass-transfer
coefficient kLa was defined. Using kLa values obtained from
the developed statistical model, a simple regression of agitation
speed vs mass-transfer was plotted, and the slope and intercept
of this straight line were included in the model enabling the
selection of the appropriate kLa for any defined agitation speed
within the regressed range. The maximum rate of hydrogen
dosing was obtained from the equipment specifications sheet. A
simple regression defining the relationship between the heat
transfer coefficient (UA) and the agitation speed was created
from experimentally obtained data and used to define the
reactor’s varying heat removal capability with changing
agitation speeds. The response of the heat exchanger was
defined by proportional and integral (PI) gain constants. Initial
attempts to fit the PI constants to experimental data failed.
Therefore, they were obtained by manually varying them until
the resultant model was visually able to describe the reaction
temperature profile of a test reaction performed within the
equipment. In order to model jacket temperature the heat
exchanger would need to be fully characterized, for example the
relationship between the master and slave controller, the flow
characteristics of the heat transfer fluid, and the type and
response time of individual valves within the system would all
need to be defined. As the goal of the project was to model the
reaction temperature and predict the maximum exotherm, such
characterization was not performed.
It was assumed that the rate of the adsorption processes is
rapid with respect to the rate of the chemical transformations
(as liquid−solid mass-transfer was previously shown not to be
rate-limiting), and therefore each of the five adsorption rate
constants was set to an arbitrarily high value and fixed (i.e., not
fitted to experimental data, Table 1). The adsorption
equilibrium constants and the rate constants of the three
chemical transformations were then fitted to experimentally
obtained molar data at a single temperature (20 °C). The rate
constants (Table 1) obtained using this approach were able to
successfully predict the outcome of a test reaction shown in
Chart 6b. As mentioned previously, data were not available to
describe all of the intermediate reactions, and consequently
where data were not available for fitting, the modeled rate
constants for those steps were not statistically significant. In this
system the rate-limiting step was found to be the initial
reduction of nitropyrimidine 1 to nitroso 2 (Nitrocat + H2cat >
Nitrosocat + cat + Water) for which data were available. As
only the rate-limiting step appears in the overall rate equation,
the fact that the rate constants for the other steps were not
significant does not have an effect on the overall prediction; in
fact these rate constants could, if desired, simply be arbitrarily
assigned a high value and then not fitted.
These fitted chemical rate and adsorption equilibrium
constants were then fixed and, in combination with data
obtained at a second temperature (40 °C), used to fit the
activation energies of the three chemical transformations
F
dx.doi.org/10.1021/op500207r | Org. Process Res. Dev. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX