Reactions of supercritical water and supercritical methanol with benzaldehyde

The reactions of supercritical water and supercritical methanol with benzaldehyde have been examined in the temperature range from 553 to 693 K, and the reaction pathways have been examined from the temporal variations of the reaction products. For the reaction of benzaldehyde with supercritical water, the major product was benzene, which was formed from the pyrolysis of benzaldehyde. The benzoic acid and benzyl alcohol were the by-products, produced from the Cannizzaro-type disproportionation reaction of benzaldehyde with the hydrate formed from the reaction with water and benzaldehyde. The major product for the reaction of benzaldehyde with supercritical methanol was benzyl alcohol, and the by-product were dimethylacetal, benzene, and methyl benzoic acid. Under the reaction conditions of this study, a significant amount of acetal was produced from benzaldehyde and methanol. The pyrolysis of acetal yielded benzyl alcohol.