(45c) Investigation into a Novel, Green Technology for Aromatic Thiol Production

Aromatic thiol synthesis is an industrially important petrochemical process. Thiols are precursors for the production of herbicides, dyes, pharmaceuticals and a host of other profitable compounds. A new technology has been developed to synthesize aromatic thiols from pre-cursor aromatic sulfonyl chloride compounds. This new technology eliminates harmful by-products and brings the process more into line with the tenets of Green Chemistry. It provides an environmentally friendly and cost effective method for producing these specialty chemicals. In this study, kinetics of the reaction and investigations into the speculated mechanism were performed by ab-initio theoretical calculations (Density functional theory, quantum mechanical based) and continuous flow reactor experimentation. Also included is preliminary, Hougen-Watson type kinetic modeling work, preliminary process design work (with ASPENTech) and capital cost analysis for this new, commercially available technology.