Production of isoprene

There are several different routes for producing isoprene. The choice of one process over the other depends on the availability of the raw materials and the economics of the selected process.

While most isoprene produced today comes from the dehydrogenation of C₅ olefin fractions from cracking processes, several schemes are used for its manufacture via synthetic routes. The following reviews the important approaches for isoprene production.