New Greener Method to Produce Nylon 6-6 Without Zinc
Researchers have developed “greener” methods to produce nylon 6-6. They have used alternative metals in place of zinc as a catalyst. They might even be able to substitute waste iron in the form of rust, or ferric oxide, for the endangered element. The researchers presented their results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). “According to estimates from the ACS Green Chemistry Institute, zinc is only 50 to 100 years away from being extinct. And currently, manufacturers use zinc as the reducing agent and catalyst for making cyclohexene from trans-1,2-dibromocyclohexane, which is the first step in the five-step synthesis of nylon 6-6,” says Amina Aly, an undergraduate student who is presenting the work at the meeting. “Nylon” is a general term for a family of synthetic polymers, called polyamides, that are made of repeating units. Different types of nylons, such as nylon 6 and nylon 6-6, use different building blocks and therefore have unique properties. Nylon 6-6 is