Exxonmobil Chemical Patents Inc.

James L Propp

David Lawrence Stern

Jane C Cheng

Ramzi Yanni Saleh

Raphael Frans Caers

Frederick Y Lo

David Wayne Turner

Charles Morris Yarbrough

Ronald Joseph Cimini

Carolyn B Duncan

An alkylaromatic hydrocarbon composition prepared by the process which comprises oligomerizing an olefin selected from the group consisting of propylene, n-butene and mixtures thereof over an oligomerization catalyst, to form a oligomerization product comprising at least 95% by weight of mono-olefin oligomers of the empirical formula:CHwherein n is greater than or equal to 10, the mono-olefin oligomers comprise at least 20% by weight of olefins having at least 12 carbon atoms, and the olefins having at least 12 carbon atoms having an average of from 0.8 to 2.0 C-Calkyl branches per carbon chain. Sulfonation of the alkylaromatic hydrocarbon product produces an alkylaryl sulfonate mixture that exhibits advantageous properties, such as biodegradability and hard and cold water performance.

Preparation of alkylaromatic hydrocarbons and alkylaryl sulfonates

In a process for preparing an alkylaromatic hydrocarbon composition an olefinic hydrocarbon mixture and an aromatic compound are contacted under alkylation conditions with an aromatic alkylation catalyst selected from a homogeneous acid catalyst and heterogeneous acid catalyst comprising a molecular sieve having an X-ray diffraction pattern including d-spacing maxima at 12.4&#xb1;0.25, 6.9&#xb1;0.15, 3.57&#xb1;0.07 and 3.42&#xb1;0.07 Angstroms. The olefinic hydrocarbon mixture comprises at least 5 wt % by weight of mono-olefin oligomers of the empirical formula:CHwherein n is greater than or equal to 10, the mono-olefin oligomers comprising at least 20 percent by weight of olefins having at least 12 carbon atoms, and the olefins having at least 12 carbon atoms having an average of from 0.8 to 2.0 C-Calkyl branches per carbon chain. Sulfonation of the alkylaromatic hydrocarbon product produces an alkylaryl sulfonate mixture that exhibits advantageous properties, such as biodegradability and hard and cold water performance.

In a process for reducing the Bromine Index of a feed containing a linear alkylbenzene and bromine-reactive olefinic hydrocarbon contaminants, the feed is contacted under conditions effective to remove bromine-reactive olefinic hydrocarbon contaminants with a catalyst comprising zeolite Y catalyst having an alpha value of about 2 to about 30. The feed will normally also contain benzene and linear paraffin remaining from the alkylation process used to produce the linear alkylbenzene.

Reduction of the Bromine Index of linear alkylbenzenes

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Kingwood, TX, United States of America

James L Propp