Ucb S.a.

Interox (societe Anonyme)

Redco Nv

Johan Martens

Pierre Jacobs

Octavian Anton

Jean-Pierre Ganhy

August Van Gysel

Georges Poncelet

Dirk Van Wouwe

Jean-Luc Dallons

Marleen Baes

Ivan Vander Eynde

Paul Tastenhoye

Process for the synthesis of alkylated aromatic hydrocarbons

A process for producing gamma-butyrolactone by catalytic hydrogenation of maleic anyhydride in the liquid phase with hydrogen, at a high temperature and under pressure, in the presence of a catalyst comprising nickel and palladium deposited on a support, wherein said support is a silica based support having a very high specific surface area , the value of which may range from 50 m.sup.2 /g, preferably from about 100 m.sup.2 /g to about 800 m.sup.2 /g and more. Very high conversion rates of 90-98 mole % and excellent selectivities to gamma-butyrolactone of 95 to 97 mole % are achieved by the process.

Process for the production of gamma-butyrolactone

Amorphous, substantially spherical silica particles obtained by acidic hydrolysis of substantially spherical synthetic crystalline calcium silicates having a size of from 20 to 120 microns are coated with a layer comprising silica and alumina. The silica particles obtained may be directly employed as catalysts for the oligomerization of olefins and, having been loaded with platinum, as hydrocracking catalysts.

Silica-particles containing alumina, process for preparing same and the

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Brussels, Belgium

Johan Martens