can be oxidised to make maleic
anhydride, an important intermediate chemical.
The Atom Economy of this reaction is 43%, calculated
using the relative formula masses. This means that 43% of the
mass of the reactants ends up in the desired product.
has been produced by a variety of methods, and each alternative
has shown an improved atom economy.
See the phenol section for more details.
became obtainable without prescription in the 1980s. At that stage
the method used for production used six steps with an overall
atom economy of just 40.1%. In the 1990s the Hoechst Celanese
Corporation developed a new three-stage process with an atom economy
of 77.4%, now a classic example of improving the route to a commercial