Production Methods and Main Applications of Propionaldehyde

How Propionaldehyde Came to Be Made This Way

Propionaldehyde has several preparation methods, but it was not industrially produced until the early 1950s. In 1975 the United Carbide Company of the United States built a plant using rhodium-phosphine as the catalyst.

After large-scale installation the low-pressure oxo method gradually became the main method and the development direction for propionaldehyde production. In 1981, of the 230,000 t of total propionaldehyde capacity in the United States, Japan and Western Europe, more than 95% was produced by low-pressure oxo synthesis.

What It Feeds

Propionaldehyde is used to produce n-propanol, the preservative raw material propionic acid, the waterborne polyurethane raw material dimethylol propionic acid, the plexiglass monomer methyl methacrylate, the resin raw material trimethylol ethane, and acetone oxime for water treatment.

It also works as a polymerisation inhibitor in polyethylene production, an accelerator for synthetic resins and rubber, an anti-ageing agent, and as antifreeze, lubricant and dehydrating agent. It is recognised as a basic raw material of the fine chemical industry and is used across medicine, paint, plastics, spices, rubber, food and feed.

Buying Specification

Our propionaldehyde is a colourless transparent liquid with no visible impurities, density 0.790-0.800 g/cm³ at 20 °C, aldehyde content 99.50% minimum, moisture 0.20% maximum and acid content as propionic acid 0.10% maximum. It ships in galvanised iron drum or ISO tank at 165 kg net per drum.