Downstream products of propylene

This post was last edited by qqgd on 2025-9-2 at 16:07. The currently established production process for 1,3-propanediol still relies primarily on the glycerol-acraldehyde route, mainly due to its maturity and low cost. Shell previously used a process involving formylation with ethylene oxide and syngas followed by hydrogenation, but due to challenges related to catalyst preparation and cost control in the formylation step, this process is hardly used nowadays. Through the process of oxidation with propylene, followed by rehydration and hydrogenation, it is estimated that controlling the catalyst selectivity during the oxidation step represents a major challenge in this process, while the subsequent rehydration and hydrogenation steps may still be underdeveloped. So far, no practical industrial applications have been reported; most remain at the research report stage. Furthermore, the market size for 1,3-propanediol is small, while the cost of glycerin is low; therefore, the glycerin-aldehyde process route is a more suitable choice