CRESYLIC ACIDS R. S. ARIES, R. 5. Aries & Associates, Brooklyn, Ν. Y., and S. A . SAVITT, Consolidated Products Co., Inc., N e w York, Ν. Υ.
C o m p l e x factors point to a reduced production of cresylic acids b y both coal tar a n d petroleum producers. . . Synthetic cresols m a y be the solution to meeting a n estimated domestic d e m a n d of 1 7 5 m i l l i o n pounds a n n u a l l y .
V^KESYLIC acid is the trade designation of various commercial grades of cresols as distinguished from the sharply fraction ated fully refined grades of isomeric cre sols. Cresylic acid is a broad classification which encompasses both commercial mix tures of the isomeric cresols and com mercial combinations of phenolic sub stances, regardless of origin. In some of these, the cresols predominate; in others the predominant constituents are xylenols and the higher boiling homologs of phenol. Until the Second World War, almost all the cresylic acids made were derived from coal tar. Even though the average yield of cresylic acid is only 0.25% of the crude coal tar, the high volumes of coal tar processed have made it feasible to re cover important amounts of cresylic acids. The production of cresylic acid in the United States has never satisfied the do mestic demand, and up to 1940, imported cresylic acids (mostly from England, Ger many, and Japan) were generally cheaper and often better than those of local manu facture. It has been known for many years that phenolic compounds exist in cracked petro leum distillates, but their commercial utilization was initiated only 10 years ago, the impetus being given by World War II. The total production of refined cresylic acids in 1948 totaled some 26,357,000 pounds; about one third of it being of petroleum origin. The figures for the pro duction of cresylic acids and various re fined cresols from 1939 to 1948 are pre sented in Table I.
Table II Cresylic Acids-—Imports versus Domestic Production (All
figures g i v e n in r o u n d n u m b e r s )
(POUNDS)
DOMESTIC PRODUCTION ( POUNDS )
% O F IMPORTS TO DOMESTIC PRODUCTION
7,000,000 25,000,000 20,000,000 25,000,000 16,000,000 18,000,000 22,000,000 11,000,000 17,000,000
26,000,000 26,000,000 26,000,000 27,000,000 21,000,000 30,000,000 38,000,000 36,000,000 26,000,000
27.0 97.0 77.0 92.5 76.0 60.0 58.0 30.5 64.0
IM I O H T S - E N G L A N D YEAR
1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941
Source: B u r e a u of t h e Census. T h e 1 9 4 9
figures are preliminary e s t i m a t e s .
It is believed that the figures given in Table I do not reflect the true demand position for the product. There has been an acute shortage of cresylic acids during and immediately after the war period. Prices skyrocketed and many customers switched to phenol and other materials. Much application research and develop ment work was discontinued. The esti mate of the capacity of the domestic mar ket for cresylic acids runs as high as 175 million pounds per year, provided that the price is kept in line with similar and substitute materials and not permitted to fluctuate as a deterrent to research and application research activities. With the slackening of demand in 1949 and in creased imports, these estimates seem to be in the far future, and prices for many of the products have gone down almost to their prewar levels. Activity since the fall of 1949 has risen to n e w heights, but the '48 levels are not expected to be reached despite this sudden surge in sales.
Table I. Production of Cresylic Acids and Various Refined Cresols ( 1940-1948) YEAR
CRESYLIC ACIDS
CRESOL O-CRESOL
{Meta,
Para)
CRESOL
Meta,
(
Imports from the United Kingdom Statistics shown in Table II indicate the extent to which the United States is dependent upon England for cresylic acids. In recent years, imports have averaged over two thirds of the domestic production. As shown in Table III, the duties on unpurified separated cresols $0.035 -f20%) are higher than the duties on puri fied separated cresols ($0.0175 -f- 1 5 % ) , and the duties on the unpurified cresols are the same as the rates on refined cresylic acid. As might b e expected, with the highest rates on t h e least advanced prod ucts, imports under the above tariff classi fications have consisted entirely of refined separated cresols; however, mixtures of un purified cresols are imported free of duty, as crude aCid. Increased British exports of the tar chemicals resulted in prices as high as $1.75 per gallon in the spring of 1948 and as low as $0.60 per gallon in the summer of 1949.
Ortho,
Para)
e
1948 26,357,350 3,500,000 9,305,718 9,242,089 1947 25,946,560 3 , 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 *e 6,549,000 8,731,000 1946 26,750,000 3,000,000 5.484,000 6,538.000 1945 20,896,000 2,362,000 7,318,000 7,611,000 1944 29,859.000 3,625,000 6,141,000 6,337,000 1943 37,774,000 3,838,000 7,480,000 7,255,000 1942 36,114,000 1,941,000 7,042,000 10,847,000 1*941 26,596,000 1,371,000 6,500,000" 17,045,000 Jl&ttO 18,371,261 1,329,199 6,000,000" 16,049,525 ·* A y t h o r s ' estimates.
