Ozonolysis of styrene waste

Abstract

This work was carried out in order to value-add to styrene waste by converting it to useful products such as benzaldehyde, benzoic acid, and benzyl alcohol. Benzaldehyde was prepared by ozonolysis of styrene waste in dichloromethane at 0℃, followed by reduction with zinc-acetic acid mixture using 1:3 mole ratio of zinc to styrene in 50% acetic acid and refluxing for 2 hours (96%yield). Benzoic acid was prepared by ozonolysis of styrene waste in methanol at 0℃, followed by refluxing with hydrogen peroxide in acetic acid using 1:1 mole ratio of styrene to hydrogen peroxide and 1:1 mole ratio of glacial acetic acid to hydrogen peroxide for 1 hour (60%yield). Benzyl alcohol was prepared by ozonolysis of styrene waste in methanol at 0℃, followed by two steps catalytic hydrogenation over 10%Pt/C at 10%wt of styrene waste. The first step was carried out at 15℃ and 50 psig H₂ for 3 hours (60%yield).