Terephthalic Acid and Dimethyl Terephthalate

The primary reason for issuing this supplement to the initial report on terephthalic acid (TPA) and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) (PEP Report No. 9) is to present a design route to poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) that proceeds via terephthalonitrile (TPN). The TPN is manufactured by ammoxidation of p-xylene. By reaction with ethylene glycol (EG) and water, the TPN is converted to bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate which can then undergo polycondensation to produce PET. This supplementary report includes some important revisions on industry status, and reviews new material pertinent to the sections on chemistry and processes presented in the original report.

Information about terephthalonitrile is sparse. Physical property data, with the exception of the melting point, were not discovered in the literature search.

Other PEP Related Reports

• Terephthalic Acid and Dimethyl Terephthalate 9
• Terephthalic Acid and Dimethyl Terephthalate 9B
• Terephthalic Acid and Dimethyl Terephthalate 9C
• Terephthalic Acid and Dimethyl Terephthalate 9D
• Terephthalic Acid and Dimethyl Terephthalate 9E