Cumene process

<p>The cumene process (cumene-phenol process, Hock process) is an <a href="/facts/Industrial_process/etguaagU">industrial process</a> for synthesizing <a href="/facts/Phenol/ACJs5NIU">phenol</a> and <a href="/facts/Acetone/cVyJxKqw">acetone</a> from <a href="/facts/Benzene/Fguue7nr">benzene</a> and <a href="/facts/Propylene/5eLDmPvm">propylene</a>. The term stems from <a href="/facts/Cumene/uNbTBzE3">cumene</a> (isopropyl benzene), the intermediate material during the process. It was invented by R. Ūdris and P. Sergeyev in 1942 (USSR), and independently by Heinrich Hock in 1944.
</p><p>This process converts two relatively cheap starting materials, <a href="/facts/Benzene/Fguue7nr">benzene</a> and <a href="/facts/Propylene/5eLDmPvm">propylene</a>, into two more valuable ones, <a href="/facts/Phenol/ACJs5NIU">phenol</a> and <a href="/facts/Acetone/cVyJxKqw">acetone</a>. Other reactants required are <a href="/facts/Oxygen/acyn6o8r">oxygen</a> from air and small amounts of a <a href="/facts/Radical_initiator/8XlX2G67">radical initiator</a>. Most of the worldwide production of phenol and <a href="/facts/Acetone/cVyJxKqw">acetone</a> is now based on this method. In 2022, nearly 10.8 million tonnes of phenol was produced by the cumene process. In order for this process to be economical, there must also be demand for the <a href="/facts/Acetone/cVyJxKqw">acetone</a> by-product as well as the <a href="/facts/Phenol/ACJs5NIU">phenol</a>.
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Cumene process open-in-new

Cumene process