Production system/production process for acrylic acid and precursors thereof

Abstract

Provided herein are systems, and methods of using such systems, for producing acrylic acid from ethylene oxide and carbon monoxide on an industrial scale. The composition includes: polypropiolactone having a concentration of greater than at least 90 wt %; a residual cobalt or ions thereof from a carbonylation catalyst in an amount of 10 ppm or less; acetic acid in an amount of 10 ppm or less; and tetrahydrofuran in amount of 10 ppm or less.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A composition comprising:
 polypropiolactone having a concentration of greater than at least 90 wt %;   a residual cobalt or ions thereof from a carbonylation catalyst in an amount of 10 ppm or less;   acetic acid in an amount of 10 ppm or less; and   tetrahydrofuran in amount of 10 ppm or less.   
     
     
         2 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the concentration of the polypropiolactone is greater than 95 wt %. 
     
     
         3 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the polypropiolactone having a purity of at least 98 wt %. 
     
     
         4 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the composition comprises aluminum or ions thereof in an amount of 10 ppm or less. 
     
     
         5 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the polypropiolactone has a number average molecular weight between 800 g/mol and 100,000 g/mol and includes at least 95 wt % of polypropiolactone. 
     
     
         6 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein at least 90% of polymer chains in the polypropiolactone have an acrylate end group. 
     
     
         7 . The composition of  claim 1  wherein at least 90% of the polypropiolactone have a formula of: 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein Y is either —H or a cation and n is an integer from about 10 to about 1,000. 
       
     
     
         8 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the polypropiolactone has a polydispersity index of less than 8. 
     
     
         9 . The composition of  claim 1 , further comprising β-propiolactone. 
     
     
         10 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the composition includes cobalt or ions thereof in an amount of less than 1 ppm. 
     
     
         11 . A composition comprising:
 polypropiolactone having a concentration of greater than at least 95 wt %;   a residual cobalt or ions thereof from a carbonylation catalyst in an amount of 10 ppm or less;   aluminum in an amount of 10 ppm or less; and   tetrahydrofuran in amount of 10 ppm or less.   
     
     
         12 . The composition of  claim 11 , wherein the polypropiolactone having a purity of at least 98 wt %. 
     
     
         13 . The composition of  claim 11 , wherein the composition has less than 10 ppm acetic acid. 
     
     
         14 . The composition of  claim 11 , wherein the cobalt or ions thereof are present in an amount of 100 ppb or less. 
     
     
         15 . The composition of  claim 14 , wherein the aluminum is present in an amount of 100 ppb or less. 
     
     
         16 . The composition of  claim 15 , wherein the composition includes a beta-propiolactone level of 500 ppm or less. 
     
     
         17 . The composition of  claim 11 , wherein the composition includes a beta-propiolactone level of 10 ppm or less. 
     
     
         18 . The composition of  claim 11 , wherein the composition has a water content of 100 ppm or less. 
     
     
         19 . The composition of  claim 16 , wherein the composition has a water content of 50 ppm or less. 
     
     
         20 . The composition of  claim 11 , wherein the carbonylation compound includes a porphyrin compound, a salen compound, or both