<P> The cumene process (cumene - phenol process, Hock process) is an industrial process for developing phenol and acetone from benzene and propylene . The term stems from cumene (isopropyl benzene), the intermediate material during the process . It was invented by Heinrich Hock in 1944 and independently by R. Ūdris and P. Sergeyev in 1942 (USSR). </P> <P> This process converts two relatively cheap starting materials, benzene and propylene, into two more valuable ones, phenol and acetone . Other reactants required are oxygen from air and small amounts of a radical initiator . Most of the worldwide production of phenol and acetone is now based on this method . In 2003, nearly 7 million tonnes of phenol was produced by the cumene process . In order for this process to be economical, there must also be demand for the acetone by - product as well as the phenol . </P> <P> Cumene is formed in the gas - phase Friedel - Crafts alkylation of benzene by propylene . Benzene and propylene are compressed together to a pressure of 30 standard atmospheres at 250 ° C (482 ° F) in presence of a catalytic Lewis acid . Phosphoric acid is often favored over aluminium halides . </P> <P> Cumene is oxidized in air, which removes the tertiary benzylic hydrogen from cumene and hence forms a cumene radical: </P>

Cumene is the starting material for the production of phenol