A novel process for the co-synthesis of vinyl chloride monomer and sodium carbonate using a gold catalyst

A novel process for the co-synthesis of vinyl chloride monomer and sodium carbonate is described. The process involves a variation of the Solvay process in which a tertiary amine is used as a hydrogen chloride acceptor. The amine hydrochloride is subsequently reacted with acetylene in the presence of chloroauric acid to produce vinyl chloride and preliminary results are presented and discussed.