Mitsui Petrochemical Industries, Ltd.

Katsuo Taniguchi

Kazunori Takahata

Michio Tanaka

Masayasu Ishibashi

Yoshito Kurano

Shinichi Nishiyama

Tooru Yamanaka

Hideo Hama

Tadaaki Fujimoto

Shoichi Miyakoshi

Nobuyuki Doi

Toyoji Shimizu

Terunori Fujita

Yoshihisa Kiso

Keiichi Yokoyama

Toshihiro Takai

Hideo Nakamura

Shintaro Araki

Hideto Matsuoka

Naoya Sakamoto

Kenji Saeki

Toshiyuki Isaka

Shizunori Miyamoto

Yoshiaki An-Nen

A process for the production of lower olefins by dehydrating lower alcohols having 2 to 4 carbon atoms which comprises using a .gamma.-alumina catalyst containing 0.3% by weight or less of impurities in total excluding SiO.sub.2, the impurities including 0.2% by weight or less of sulfur content calculated in terms of SO.sub.4 - and 0.05% by weight or less of sodium content calculated in terms of Na.sub.2 O, and/or a process for the production of lower olefins by dehydrating lower alcohols having 2 to 4 carbon atoms that comprises using a .gamma.-alumina catalyst which contains 0.5 to 5% by weight of SiO.sub.2. According to the process of the present invention, lower olefins can be produced from lower alcohols with high yield and high selectivity for a prolonged period of time without reducing the catalytic activity.

Process for producing lower olefins

In accordance with the present invention, there are provided carboxylate compounds represented by the following formula [A] and liquid crystal material comprising said compounds ##STR1## wherein R is a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl, alkoxy and halogenated alkyl group of 3-20 carbon atoms, X and Y represent each a group selected from the group consisting of --COO--, --OCO--, --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --, --CH.sub.2 O--, --OCH.sub.2 --, --S--S--, ##STR2## or a single bond, A and B represent each a group selected from the group consisting of specific divalent aromatic and alicyclic group such as phenylene, cyclohexylene and tetrahydronaphthalene and R* is an optically active group of 4-20 carbon atoms containing at least one asymmetric carbon atom (hydrogen atoms attached to the carbon atoms of said optically active group may be substituted with halogen atoms), and m and n are each an integer of 0-2, with the proviso that both m and n do not become 0 at the same time.

Carboxylate compounds, liquid crystal compositions and liquid crystal

The liquid crystal racemic mixture of the invention is represented by the formula [I]:

Liquid crystal racemic mixture, liquid crystal composition and liquid

In a process of producing isopropylnaphthols by oxidizing diisopropylnaphthalenes with molecular oxygen in a liquid phase to provide a reaction mixture which contains therein diisopropylnaphthalene monohydroperoxides and then acid decomposing the monohydroperoxides to isopropylnaphthols, the improvement comprising separating an organic layer from the reaction mixture, adding lower aliphatic alcohols of 1-4 carbons to the organic layer, crystallizing the diisopropylnaphthalenes while allowing the diisopropylnaphthalene monohydroperoxides to remain dissolved in the lower aliphatic alcohols, thereby to separate the monohydroperoxides from the diisopropylnaphthalenes. A further improvement in the process comprises crystallizing the isopropylnaphthols from aromatic hydrocarbons of 6-12 carbons.

Process of producing isopropylnaphthols

Process for preparing Biphenols

A method of producing polysilane compounds which comprises: polymerizing a monomeric silane compound represented by the general formula of ##STR1## wherein R independently represents hydrogen or hydrocarbon group, but not both R's are hydrogen at the same time, in the presence of an organometallic complex of Ni, Co, Ru, Pd or Ir.

Method of producing polysilane compounds

A process is disclosed which is capable of producing p,p'-biphenol of high purity by the dealkylation reaction of 3,3',5,5'-tetra-t-butyl-4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl and which yet allows isobutene to be recovered in high yield. The process performs the dealkylation reaction of 3,3',5,5'-tetra-t-butyl-4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl in the presence of an acid catalyst using as a solvent a saturated hydrocarbon having a boiling point of 190.degree. C. or above, an alicyclic hydrocarbon having a boiling point of 190.degree. C. or above, a hydrocarbon with an iodine value of no more than 1, sulfolane, or a mixture of these solvents. Also disclosed is a process for producing p,p'-biphenol from a mixture of 2,6-di-t-butyl-phenol and 3,3',5,5'-tetra-t-butyl-4,4'-diphenoquinone or from a mixture of 2,6-di-t-butylphenol, 3,3',5,5'-tetra-t-butyl-4,4'-diphenoquinone and 3,3',5,5'-tetra-t-butyl-4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl. In this process, the synthesis of 3,3',5,5'-tetra-t-butyl-4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl by the redox reaction between 2,6-di-t-butylphenol and 3,3',5,5'-tetra-t-butyl-4,4'-diphenoquinone and the production of p,p'-biphenol by the dealkylation reaction of 3,3',5,5'-tetra-t-butyl-4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl are performed at one stage in the presence of both an acid catalyst and a solvent at a temperature of 120.degree.-280.degree. C.

Process for producing p,p'-biphenol

Process for producting alkyl group-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons

Alkali metal-supported catalyst

A process for producing a hydroxydiphenyl ether, which comprises reacting at least one hydroquinone compound with itself or with a monohydric phenol compound in the presence of a catalyst composed essentially of a synthetic mica in which at least 10 mole % of cation-exchangeable interlayer cations are made up of a metal ion other than alkali metal ions, and/or a proton.

Process for producing hydroxydiphenyl ethers

An orthoalkylated aromatic amine is produced at a high selectivity from the reaction of an aromatic amine having at least one hydrogen atom at the ortho-positions and a primary or secondary alcohol under heating in the presence of a catalyst containing, as a main constituent, iron oxides.

Process for producing orthoalkylated aromatic amine

In a process for separating at least two alkyl phenols having close boiling points by azeotropic distillation of a mixture composed of the alkyl phenols with a hydrocarbon azeotroping agent, the improvement wherein said hydrocarbon azeotroping agent is selected from saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons of 9 to 13 carbon atoms having a boiling point of 150.degree. to 190.degree. C. at 760 mmHg.

Process for separation of alkyl phenols by azeotropic distillation

In a process for producing a mono- or di-ortho-methyl-substituted phenol which comprises methylating a phenol having one or two ortho-hydrogens with methanol in the presence of a catalytic amount of a catalyst comprising a major proportion of an oxide of iron as a first component (A) and a minor proportion of at least one oxide of metal other than iron as a second component (B), the improvement wherein said metal other than iron in component (B) is a metal selected from the group consisting of Ga, Ge, Y, Nb, Hf, Bi and Ta; and a catalyst used therefor.

Process for production of mono- or di-ortho-methyl-substituted phenols

A process for preparing dimethyl naphthalenes, which comprises heating a compound, such as methyl-4-(p-tolyl) butane, methyl-4-(p-tolyl)butene or methyl-4-(p-tolyl)butadiene, in the presence of a cyclization-dehydrogenation catalyst.

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Iwakuni, Japan

Katsuo Taniguchi