• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.337-339
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• 2014

A facile one-pot synthesis of p-aminobenzoic acid from methyl 4-formylbenzoate which is a main by product in dimethyl terephthalate production process has been developed. This process involves the formation of amide intermediate obtained from the reaction of an aldehyde in methyl 4-formylbenzoate with chlorine in methylene chloride and the subsequent treatment of acid chloride with ammonia. The resulting amide was converted into amine using Hofmann degradation to afford a p-aminobenzoic acid. This facile one-pot process does not involve any expensive materials and should offer an attractive alternative to p-aminobenzoic acid production.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.294-298
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• 2017

Six new fluorescent whitening agent's candidates with 4,4'-di((E)-styryl)-1,1'-biphenyl skeleton which is the same as that of Uvitex FP family were synthesized using methyl 4-formylbenzoate (MFB) as a starting material. MFB has been disposed as a by-product of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) production process. Six candidates were synthesized by the reaction of MFB, and its derivatives with tetraethyl biphenyl-4,4'-diylbis(methylene)diphosphonate (3) using Wittig-Horner reaction. A series of UV spectra were recorded and the results were used for estimating molar absorptivities of each candidates in order to find their potential application as fluorescent whitening agents. Considering the molar absorptivity (log ${\varepsilon}$ 3.95~2.60) for all candidates was lower than that of the commercial Uvitex FP 127 (log ${\varepsilon}$ 4.85), it was concluded that they are not suitable for fluorescent whitening agent applications.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.303-306
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• 2018

Methyl 4-formylbenzoate (MFB), a by-product of the DMT production process, which has been disposed, was used as a starting material for the synthesis of six new fluorescent whitening agent's candidates with 4,4'-di((E)-styryl)-1,1'-biphenyl skeleton attached with an aromatic ester, the same as that of the commercial product family. All candidates were synthesized by the reaction of MFB, and its derivatives with tetraethyl biphenyl-4,4'-diylbis(methylene)diphosphonate using Wittig-Horner reaction. UV spectra for all candidates were recorded and the data were used for calculating the molar absorptivity in order to confirm the usability as a fluorescent whitening agent. All of them showed overall molar extinction coefficients (log ${\varepsilon}$ 4.59~5.00) similar to those of conventional commercial products (log ${\varepsilon}$ 4.85). In particular, compounds 16 and 17 having a dimethoxyphenyl group exhibited a molar extinction coefficient superior to those of conventional commercial products, and thus a field testing for commercialization will be conducted.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.195-198
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• 2016

A total four-step synthetic process of high quality optical brightening agent 4,4'-bis(2-benzoxazolyl)stilbene (BBS) from methyl 4-formylbenzoate (MFB) was developed with 73% total yield. MFB is one of the main by-products in dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) production process. Our process involves the formation of 4,4'-stilbenedicarboxylate (2) obtained from the reaction of an aldehyde in MFB with ethyl 4-((diethoxyphosphoryl)methyl)benzoate (1) and the subsequent transformation to 4,4'-stilbenedicarbonyl chloride (3). In order to prepare benzoxazole ring in BBS, various solvents and catalysts were studied. The best solvent and catalyst were found to be 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene and boric acid, respectively suitable for mass production of BBS.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.4275-4276
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• 2012

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.508-511
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• 2016

A facile synthesis of 4-(aminomethyl)cyclohexanecarboxylic acid (AMCA) from recyclable methyl 4-formylbenzoate (MFB) was described. In particular, we investigated the best process variables such as catalyst, hydrogen pressure, reaction temperature, and reaction time for AMCA conversion from AMBA through hydrogenation reaction. The best conditions were found to be as follows: the catalyst as [5% Pd/C, 5% Pt/C, 5% Rh/C (1 : 1 : 1)] which is a composite catalyst, the pressure as 30 bar, the reaction time as 8 hours and the reaction temperature at $130^{\circ}C$. Under the condition, a 90% yield (purity 99.9%) for the mass production of AMCA was achieved.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.621-623
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• 2015

This article describes a purification method yielding high purity of MFB produced from DMT production process. Aldehyde functional group of MFB included in side-products were converted to acetal compound via reacting with methanol and further separated. Hydrolysis process of the acetal product was continued under acidic condition and highly pure MFB were obtained with 90% yield. The structure of MFB was analyzed by $^1H$ NMR and $^{13}C$ NMR spectroscopy. Also, the purity of MFB was estimated to be over 99% by GC analysis.