Exxonmobil Chemical Patents Inc.

Exxonmobil Oil Corporation

Francis S Bryan

William Alois Weber

Stephen Harold Brown

Jose G Santiesteban

Jane C Cheng

Charles Morris Smith

Walter R Cade

Jane Chi-Ya Cheng

A process for the disproportionation of cumene is disclosed which comprises the step of contacting a feed containing cumene, under disproportionation conditions, with a catalyst comprising a molecular sieve, preferably TEA-mordenite. The contacting step disproportionates at least part of the cumene in the feed to provide a disproportionation effluent containing benzene and a mixture of diisopropylbenzene isomers. The effluent is then recovered and contains, prior to any separation step, less 1% of ortho-diisopropylbenzene by weight of the total diisopropylbenzene content of said effluent, less than 1 wt % of n-propylbenzene, less than 5 wt % of triisopropylbenzenes and less than 5 wt % of disproportionation products other than benzene and diisopropylbenzenes.

Production of diisopropylbenzene by disproportion of cumene in the presence of a TEA-mordenite catalyst

Production of diisopropylbenzene

In a process for the selective production of meta-diisopropylbenzene, a C &plus; aromatic hydrocarbon feedstock containing meta- and ortho-diisopropylbenzene is contacted with benzene under conversion conditions with a catalyst comprising a molecular sieve selected from the group consisting of zeolite beta, mordenite and a porous crystalline inorganic oxide material having an X-ray diffraction pattern including the d-spacing maxima at 12.4&plusmn;0.25, 6.9&plusmn;0.15, 3.57&plusmn;0.07 and 3.42&plusmn;0.07 Angstrom. The contacting step selectively converts ortho-diisopropylbenzene in the feedstock to produce an effluent in which the ratio of meta-diispropylbenzene to ortho-diispropylbenzene is greater than that of the feedstock. The effluent is the fed to a separation zone for recovery of a product rich in meta-diisopropylbenzene.

Selective production of meta-diisopropylbenzene

A process for the selective production of meta-diisopropylbenzene is disclosed, wherein the process comprises the steps of contacting cumene under disproportionation conditions and in the absence of added benzene with a catalyst comprising a porous crystalline inorganic oxide material having an X-ray diffraction pattern including d-spacing maxima at 12.4&plusmn;0.25, 6.9&plusmn;0.15, 3.57&plusmn;0.07 and 3.42&plusmn;0.07 Angstrom to produce a disproportionation effluent containing benzene and mixture of diisopropylbenzene isomers, and then recovering from said disproportion effluent a meta-diisopropylbenzene boiling range fraction in which the ratio of meta-diisopropylbenzene to ortho-diisopropylbenzene is in excess of 50 and the total amount of meta-diisopropylbenzene co-boilers excluding ortho-diisopropylbenzene is less than 1 wt % of said fraction.

Production of meta-diisopropylbenzene

In a process for the selective production of meta-diisopropylbenzene, a C &plus;aromatic hydrocarbon feedstock containing meta- and ortho-diisopropylbenzene is contacted with benzene under conversion conditions with a catalyst comprising a molecular sieve selected from the group consisting of zeolite beta, mordenite and a porous crystalline inorganic oxide material having an X-ray diffraction pattern including the d-spacing maxima at 12.4&plusmn;0.25, 6.90&plusmn;15, 3.57&plusmn;0.07 and 3.42&plusmn;0.07 Angstrom. The contacting step selectively converts ortho-diisopropylbenzene in the feedstock to produce an effluent in which the ratio of meta-diispropylbenzene to ortho-diispropylbenzene is greater than that of the feedstock. The effluent is the fed to a separation zone for recovery of a product rich in meta-diisopropylbenzene.

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Townsend, DE, United States of America

Francis S Bryan