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Formaldehyde is readily oxidized by atmospheric oxygen into formic acid. For this reason, commercial formaldehyde is typically contaminated with formic acid. Formaldehyde can be hydrogenated into methanol. In the Cannizzaro reaction, formaldehyde and base react to produce formic acid and methanol, a disproportionation reaction.
Industrially, formaldehyde is produced by catalytic oxidation of methanol. The most commonly used catalysts are silver metal or a mixture of an iron oxide with molybdenum and/or vanadium . In the recently more commonly used Formox process using iron oxide and molybdenum and/or vanadium, methanol and oxygen react at 300-400°C to produce ...
Of all aldehydes, formaldehyde is produced on the largest scale, about 6 000 000 tons per year. It is mainly used in the production of resins when combined with urea, melamine, and phenol (e.g., Bakelite). It is a precursor to methylene diphenyl diisocyanate ("MDI"), a precursor to polyurethanes. [7]
In organic chemistry, the Mannich reaction is a three-component organic reaction that involves the amino alkylation of an acidic proton next to a carbonyl (C=O) functional group by formaldehyde (H−CHO) and a primary or secondary amine (−NH 2) or ammonia (NH 3). [1] The final product is a β-amino-carbonyl compound also known as a Mannich base.
Novolaks (or novolacs) are phenol-formaldehyde resins with a formaldehyde to phenol molar ratio of less than one. In place of phenol itself, they are often produced from cresols (methylphenols). The polymerization is brought to completion using acid-catalysis such as sulfuric acid , oxalic acid , hydrochloric acid and rarely, sulfonic acids. [ 4 ]
The initial dimerization of formaldehyde to give glycolaldehyde (1) occurs via an unknown mechanism, possibly promoted by light or through a free radical process and is very slow. However, the reaction is autocatalytic: 1 catalyzes the condensation of two molecules of formaldehyde to produce an additional molecule of 1.
Despite genuine concerns, formaldehyde is a naturally occurring substance, of which human beings produce approximately 1.5 oz a day as a normal part of a healthy metabolism. Formaldehyde also occurs naturally in many fruits, such as bananas, apples, and carrots, and does not bioaccumulate in either plants or animals. [4]
To make polyoxymethylene homopolymer, anhydrous formaldehyde must be generated. The principal method is by reaction of the aqueous formaldehyde with an alcohol to create a hemiformal, dehydration of the hemiformal/water mixture (either by extraction or vacuum distillation) and release of the formaldehyde by heating the hemiformal.