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Petrochemistry is the chemistry of producing chemical products from petroleum, specifically naphtha. Naphtha is a petroleum component with a low boiling point, and is itself a mixture of several types of hydrocarbons. Therefore, several processes are required to obtain the necessary compounds. The main compounds used in petrochemistry are olefinic hydrocarbons such as ethylene, propylene, and butylene, and aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, and xylene (so-called BTX). Of these, aromatic hydrocarbons are originally included, but alkenes such as ethylene are not. These compounds are obtained by cracking naphtha. Then, various compounds are isolated by rectification after cracking.
After isolation, the necessary compounds are made by chemically reacting each compound. Of these, the most important one is ethylene, so we will discuss it first. Ethylene is a highly reactive compound with π bonds, and is the raw material for polyethylene, epoxyethane, ethylene glycol, ethanol, acetaldehyde, vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate, etc. These compounds are used as polymer monomers and solvents. Propylene is the raw material for polypropylene, acrylonitrile, glycerin, etc. Butylene is the raw material for maleic anhydride and methyl ethyl ketone. Benzene is the raw material for phenol and nitrobenzene, and indirectly the raw material for adipic acid. Toluene is the raw material for trinitrotoluene and benzoic acid, and xylene is the raw material for terephthalic acid, phthalic acid, etc. They are also often used as solvents themselves.
Petrochemistry is closely related to organic chemistry because it uses organic compounds, and catalytic chemistry is also important because products must be manufactured industrially. Also, like many industrial chemistries, chemical engineering is essential for separating products.
Petroleum was discovered in ancient times, and there are known examples of its use in Mesopotamia and Egypt for waterproofing and as a material for preservatives. Its flammable nature is also widely known, and in Japan, it was presented to Emperor Tenchi as flammable water. However, perhaps due to its poor usability, it was not until the 18th century that it became common to use it as fuel (see the petroleum section for details).
Petroleum has only recently become a material for chemical products. It is thought to have begun in 1920 when the American Standard Oil Company succeeded in synthesizing isopropanol from propylene. Since then, chemical products have been rapidly produced from petroleum. Not only synthetic fibers and synthetic resins such as polyethylene and nylon, but also compounds that were made by fermentation such as acetic acid and alcohol have come to be made from petroleum. It can be said that petroleum is involved in the majority of chemical products familiar to modern life, such as food, clothing, and furniture.
Because petroleum is a finite resource and cannot be extracted infinitely, there are concerns about its future decline. Furthermore, petroleum is a mixture of various and complex compounds, and it takes a lot of effort to synthesize the substances contained in petroleum. For this reason, there is a movement to stop using petroleum as fuel and to limit its use to a limited extent as a material for chemical products. As a result, the development of alternative fuels to petroleum is becoming more and more popular. There are also attempts to synthesize petrochemical products from substances other than petroleum.
