Provided herein are processes for the separation of acetonitrile from low-purity feedstock streams. The provided processes are particularly useful for isolating acetonitrile at high purity from chemical manufacturing waste streams that include methanol, water, and allyl alcohol.

Provided herein are processes for the separation of acetonitrile from low-purity feedstock streams. The provided processes are particularly useful for isolating acetonitrile at high purity from chemical manufacturing waste streams that include methanol, water, and allyl alcohol.

There is disclosed a method for preparing levetiracetam and intermediates from a compound of the formula:

##STR00001##

wherein CR is selected from the group consisting of cyano, carboxylic acid, carboxamide, alkali carboxylate, alkaline earth metal carboxylate, alkyl carboxylate, and a mixture thereof.

There is disclosed a method for preparing levetiracetam and intermediates from a compound of the formula: ##STR00001##
wherein CR is selected from the group consisting of cyano, carboxylic acid, carboxamide, alkali carboxylate, alkaline earth metal carboxylate, alkyl carboxylate, and a mixture thereof.

There is disclosed a method for preparing levetiracetam and intermediates from a compound of the formula: ##STR00001##
wherein CR is selected from the group consisting of cyano, carboxylic acid, carboxamide, alkali carboxylate, alkaline earth metal carboxylate, alkyl carboxylate, and a mixture thereof.

Provided herein are processes for the separation of acetonitrile from low-purity feedstock streams. The provided processes are particularly useful for isolating acetonitrile at high purity from chemical manufacturing waste streams that include methanol, water, and allyl alcohol.

Provided herein are processes for the separation of acetonitrile from low-purity feedstock streams. The provided processes are particularly useful for isolating acetonitrile at high purity from chemical manufacturing waste streams that include methanol, water, and allyl alcohol.

A process for producing acetonitrile, the process comprising: treating a feedstock stream comprising methanol, allyl alcohol, oxazole, acetonitrile, water, and hydrogen cyanide to remove hydrogen cyanide and produce an acetonitrile stream comprising less than 1 wt. % hydrogen cyanide. The process further comprises the step of distilling the acetonitrile stream in a first distillation column to produce a first distillate comprising oxazole and methanol; a first intermediate acetonitrile stream comprising acetonitrile and oxazole and less than 1 wt % allyl alcohol; a first bottoms stream comprising allyl alcohol and water. The process further comprises the step of purifying the first intermediate acetonitrile stream to produce an acetonitrile product stream and a recycle stream comprising allyl alcohol.

A process for producing acetonitrile, the process comprising: treating a feedstock stream comprising methanol, allyl alcohol, oxazole, acetonitrile, water, and hydrogen cyanide to remove hydrogen cyanide and produce an acetonitrile stream comprising less than 1 wt. % hydrogen cyanide. The process further comprises the step of distilling the acetonitrile stream in a first distillation column to produce a first distillate comprising oxazole and methanol; a first intermediate acetonitrile stream comprising acetonitrile and oxazole and less than 1 wt % allyl alcohol; a first bottoms stream comprising allyl alcohol and water. The process further comprises the step of purifying the first intermediate acetonitrile stream to produce an acetonitrile product stream and a recycle stream comprising allyl alcohol.

The present disclosure relates to a process for stabilizing an antimony ammoxidation catalyst in an ammoxidation process. The process may comprise providing an antimony ammoxidation catalyst to a reactor; reacting propylene with ammonia and oxygen in the fluidized bed reactor in the presence of the antimony ammoxidation catalyst to form a crude acrylonitrile product; and adding an effective amount of an antimony-containing compound to the antimony ammoxidation catalyst to maintain catalyst conversion and selectivity; wherein the antimony-containing compound has a melting point less than 375° C. The present disclosure also relates to catalyst compositions and additional processes using the antimony ammoxidation catalyst stabilized by an antimony-containing compound.