1,4-Butanediol (BDO) has a wide range of uses and the existing production process needs to be improved.

1,4-Butanediol (BDO) is an organic compound with the molecular formula C4H10O2. BDO appears as a colorless or light yellow oily liquid, soluble in ethanol, methanol, acetone, and slightly soluble in ether. BDO has the advantages of flammability, strong solubility, and low production cost. As an important fine chemical and organic chemical raw material, it is widely used in engineering plastics, synthetic fibers, pesticides, cosmetics, medicine and other fields.

The main preparation methods of BDO include butadiene method, acetylene method, maleic anhydride hydrogenation method, 1,4-dichlorobutene method, etc. The butadiene method uses acetic acid and 1,3-butadiene as the main raw materials. In the presence of oxygen, the raw materials undergo an acetyl oxidation reaction, and finally the finished product is obtained through hydrogenation, hydrolysis and other processes; the acetylene method is also called acetylenic aldehyde. The method is the mainstream preparation method of BDO, which uses acetylene and formaldehyde as the main raw materials and produces finished products under the action of catalysts. Our country mainly uses the calcium carbide acetylenic aldehyde method to prepare BDO. This method has low production cost, but it is easy to cause environmental pollution.

Bio-based BDO is a subdivided product of BDO. In recent years, as the concept of green environmental protection continues to deepen, the market demand for bio-based chemicals has grown, driving the development of the bio-based BDO industry to further accelerate. The main preparation methods of bio-based BDO include one-step method and two-step method. The one-step method refers to the use of starch hydrolysis to produce finished products. Restricted by factors such as high technical barriers and high production costs, the current bio-based BDO production capacity is mainly concentrated in overseas countries, and my country’s industry is still in its infancy.

BDO is widely used, including engineering plastics, synthetic fibers, pesticides, cosmetics, medicines, electronic chemicals, etc. In the field of engineering plastics, BDO can be used to produce polybutylene terephthalate (PBT). As one of the five major engineering plastics, PBT has the advantages of heat resistance, aging resistance, high strength, and good insulation properties. It is widely used in automobile manufacturing, It has broad application prospects in chemical industry and other fields; in the field of electronic chemicals, BDO is the main raw material for lithium battery auxiliary material NMP. Benefiting from strong market demand, the development of my country’s BDO industry has accelerated. According to the “2023-2028 China 1,4-butanediol (BDO) industry market in-depth research and development prospect forecast report released by the Industrial Research Center ” shows that my country’s BDO output will reach 1.912 million tons in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 10.1%.

The main BDO manufacturers in my country include Huafeng Chemical, Zhongtai Chemical, Wanhua Chemical, Wanwei High-tech, Hualu Hengsheng, Sanwei Co., Ltd., etc. Zhongtai Chemical is my country’s leading BDO company. The company will officially launch a BDO project with an annual output of 300,000 tons in July 2022.

Industry analysts said that BDO, as an important fine chemical and organic chemical raw material, has broad application prospects in many fields. With the gradual increase of market demand Released, the development trend of the industry will continue to improve. In recent years, Chinese enterprises and related scientific research institutions have continued to increase research efforts and promote the BDO industry to gradually develop in the direction of high quality, green and environmental protection. It is expected that the development speed of my country’s BDO industry will further accelerate in the future.