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1-Octene

 

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1-Octene



 
 
1-Octene is a higher olefin, or alkene
Alkene

In organic chemistry, an alkene, olefin, or olefine is an Saturation chemical compound containing at least one carbon-to-carbon double bond....
, with a formula C8H16. 1-Octene is an alpha-olefin
Alpha-olefin

Alpha-olefins are a family of organic compounds which are olefins or alkenes with a chemical formula CarbonxHydrogen2x, distinguished by having a double bond at the primary or alpha position....
, meaning that the double bond is located at the alpha (primary) position, endowing this compound with higher reactivity and thus useful chemical properties. 1-Octene is one of the industrially important linear alpha olefins.

Synthesis
Industrially, 1-octene is commonly manufactured by two main routes: oligomerization of ethylene
Ethylene

Ethylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H4. It is the simplest alkene. Because it contains a carbon-carbon double bond, ethylene is called an unsaturated hydrocarbon or an olefin....
 and by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis followed by purification.






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Encyclopedia


1-Octene is a higher olefin, or alkene
Alkene

In organic chemistry, an alkene, olefin, or olefine is an Saturation chemical compound containing at least one carbon-to-carbon double bond....
, with a formula C8H16. 1-Octene is an alpha-olefin
Alpha-olefin

Alpha-olefins are a family of organic compounds which are olefins or alkenes with a chemical formula CarbonxHydrogen2x, distinguished by having a double bond at the primary or alpha position....
, meaning that the double bond is located at the alpha (primary) position, endowing this compound with higher reactivity and thus useful chemical properties. 1-Octene is one of the industrially important linear alpha olefins.

Synthesis


Industrially, 1-octene is commonly manufactured by two main routes: oligomerization of ethylene
Ethylene

Ethylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H4. It is the simplest alkene. Because it contains a carbon-carbon double bond, ethylene is called an unsaturated hydrocarbon or an olefin....
 and by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis followed by purification. Another route to 1-octene which has been used commercially on a small scale is dehydration
Dehydration reaction

In chemistry, a dehydration reaction is usually defined as a chemical reaction that involves the loss of water from the reacting molecule. Dehydration reactions are a subset of elimination reactions....
 of alcohols. Prior to the 1970s 1-octene was also manufactured by thermal cracking of waxes, whereas linear internal octene
Octene

Octene is an alkene, or higher olefin, with the formula carbon8hydrogen16. There are several isomers of octene, depending on the position of the double bond and the branching of the carbon chain....
s were also manufactured by chlorination
Chlorination

Chlorination is the process of adding the element chlorine to water as a method of water purification to make it fit for human consumption as drinking water....
/dehydrochlorination of linear paraffins.

There are five commercial processes which oligomerize ethylene
Ethylene

Ethylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H4. It is the simplest alkene. Because it contains a carbon-carbon double bond, ethylene is called an unsaturated hydrocarbon or an olefin....
 to 1-octene. Four of these processes produce 1-octene as a part of a wide distribution of alpha-olefins. Typically, 1-hexene
1-Hexene

1-hexene is a higher olefin, or alkene, with a formula C6H12. 1-hexene is an alpha-olefin, meaning that the double bond is located at the alpha position, endowing the compound with higher reactivity and thus useful chemical properties....
 content of the entire distribution of alpha-olefins ranges from about 25% of the distribution in the Ethyl (Innovene) process to about 8% of distribution in some modes of the Gulf
Gulf Oil

Gulf Oil was a major global petroleum Corporation from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies....
 (CP Chemicals) and Idemitsu processes.

The only commercial process to isolate 1-octene from a wide mixture of C8 hydrocarbons is practiced by Sasol Ltd., a South African oil and gas and petrochemical company. Sasol commercially employs Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to make fuels from synthesis gas derived from coal and recovers 1-octene from these fuel streams, where the initial 1-octene concentration in a narrow distillation
Distillation

Distillation is a method of separation process mixtures based on differences in their Volatility in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
 cut may be 60%, with the remainder being vinylidenes, linear and branched internal olefins, linear and branched paraffins, alcohol
Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl Functional group is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group....
s, aldehyde
Aldehyde

An aldehyde is an organic compound containing a terminal carbonyl group. This functional group, which consists of a carbon atom bonded to a hydrogen atom and double bond to an oxygen atom , is called the aldehyde group....
s, carboxylic acid
Carboxylic acid

Carboxylic acids are organic acids characterized by the presence of a carboxyl group, which has the Chemical formula -COH, usually written -COOH or -CO2H....
s and aromatic compounds.

Synthesis of 1-octene as a part of multi-product ethylene
Ethylene

Ethylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H4. It is the simplest alkene. Because it contains a carbon-carbon double bond, ethylene is called an unsaturated hydrocarbon or an olefin....
 oligomerization process or a Fischer-Tropsch process is covered in an article on linear alpha olefins.

Although several processes have been proposed in patents or in technical literature, there is not a viable commercial process which produces only 1-octene.

Applications


The primary, even overwhelming, use of 1-octene is as a comonomer in production of polyethylene. High density polyethylene
High density polyethylene

High-Density PolyEthylene or PolyEthylene High-Density is a polyethylene thermoplastic made from petroleum. It takes 1.75 kilograms of petroleum to make one kilogram of HDPE....
 (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene
Linear low density polyethylene

Linear low-density polyethylene is a substantially linear polymer , with significant numbers of short branches, commonly made by copolymerization of ethylene with longer-chain olefins....
 (LLDPE) use approximately 2-4% and 8-10% of comonomers, respectively.

Another significant use of 1-octene is for production of linear aldehyde
Aldehyde

An aldehyde is an organic compound containing a terminal carbonyl group. This functional group, which consists of a carbon atom bonded to a hydrogen atom and double bond to an oxygen atom , is called the aldehyde group....
 via OXO Synthesis (hydroformylation
Hydroformylation

Hydroformylation, also known as oxo synthesis, is an important industrial process for the production of aldehydes from alkenes. This chemical reaction entails the addition of a formyl group and a hydrogen atom to a carbon-carbon double bond....
) for later production of the short-chain fatty acid
Fatty acid

In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturation or Unsaturated compound....
 nonanoic acid
Nonanoic acid

Nonanoic acid, also called pelargonic acid, is an organic compound composed of a nine-carbon chain terminating in a carboxylic acid with structural formula CH37COOH....
, a carboxylic acid, by oxidation of an intermediate aldehyde or linear alcohols for plasticizer
Plasticizer

Plasticizers or Dispersants are additives that increase the plasticity or fluidity of the material to which they are added, these include plastics, cement, concrete, wallboard and clay bodies....
 application by hydrogenation
Hydrogenation

Hydrogenation is the chemical reaction that results from the addition of hydrogen . The process is usually employed to a redox or Saturation organic compounds....
 of the aldehyde.