Kirk-Othmer 4th:
Uses
More than 95% of the cumene produced is used as feedstock for the production of phenol and its coproduct acetone . The cumene oxidation process for phenol synthesis has been growing in popularity since the 1960s and is prominent today. The first step of this process is the formation of cumene hydroperoxide [80-15-9]. The hydroperoxide is then selectively cleaved to phenol [108-95-2] and acetone [67-64-1] in an acidic environment (21).
Phenol, in its various purity grades, is used for phenol-formaldehyde resins to bond construction materials like plywood and composition board (40% of the phenol produced), for the bisphenol A employed in making epoxy resins and polycarbonate (30%), and for caprolactam , the starting material for nylon-6 (20%). Minor amounts are used for alkylphenols and pharmaceuticals (10).
The acetone supply is strongly influenced by the production of phenol, and so the small difference between total demand and the acetone supplied by the cumene oxidation process is made up from other sources. The largest use for acetone is in solvents although increasing amounts are used to make bisphenol A [80-05-7] and methyl methacrylate [80-62-6]. a-Methylstyrene [98-83-9] is produced in controlled quantities from the cleavage of cumene hydroperoxide, or it can be made directly by the dehydrogenation of cumene. About 2% of the cumene produced in 1987 went to a-methylstyrene manufacture for use in poly(a-methylstyrene) and as an ingredient that imparts heat-resistant qualities to polystyrene plastics.
Cumene in minor amounts is used as a thinner for paints, enamels, and lacquers and to produce acetophenone, the chemical intermediate dicumylperoxide, and diisopropylbenzene. It is also a good solvent for fats and resins and, as such, has been suggested as a replacement for benzene in many of its industrial applications (22).
(10).Chem Systems Inc., Process Evaluation/Research
Planning, Report No. 85-10, 1986, p. 45.
(21).C. S. Hughes and Z. Sedaghat-Pour, in Ref. 1.
(1).Z. Sedaghat-Pour, Chemical Economics Handbook, Stanford
Research Institute International, Menlo Park, Calif., Mar. 1989.
(22).Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and Safety, Vols.
I and II, Geneva, Switzerland, 1983, p. 572.
