Agency of Industrial Science and Technology

Director-general of the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology

Kazuo Shimizu

Fujio Mizukami

Shuichi Niwa

Kazuyuki Maeda

Makoto Toba

Juichi Imamura

Yoshio Orito

A process for preparing a cordierite, which includes dissolving a silicon compound, an aluminum compound and a magnesium compound in a molar ratio of 1:0.7 to 1:0.3 to 0.5 in a complexing agent represented by the formula R(OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2).sub.n OH, wherein R is an alkyl group and n is an integer of 1 to 4; heating the resulting solution to bring about a ligand exchange reaction of the silicon compound, aluminum compound and magnesium compound with the complexing agent; conducting hydrolysis to form a gel; drying the gel and sintering the dried gel at 800.degree. to 1450.degree. C.

Process for preparing cordierite

The invention provides an improvement in the partial nuclear hydrogenation of an aromatic hydrocarbon compound in the liquid phase with admixture of water catalyzed by a ruthenium-containing solid catalyst. The scope of the invention is in the use of a novel ruthenium-containing catalyst supported on a silica gel and the like carrier and the catalyst is prepared by the hydrolysis and gelation of an alkoxide of silicon or aluminum in a solution containing a ruthenium compound, e.g. ruthenium alkoxide, followed by drying of the gelled material so that the resultant catalyst is very uniformly impregnated with the ruthenium ingredient to be imparted with greatly improved catalytis activity and selectivity for the intended reaction over conventional ruthenium-containing catalysts prepared by post-impregnation of a preformed silica gel carrier.

Method for partial nuclear hydrogenation of aromatic hydrocarbon

The invention provides an efficient method for the preparation of ethylbenzene by the reaction of toluene and methyl alcohol. By virtue of the specific active ingredients contained in the catalyst, the catalyst is free from the problem of rapid decrease of the catalytic activity owing to coking so that the inventive method is very satisfactory as an industrial process for the preparation of ethylbenzene.

Method for the preparation of ethylbenzene

Growing community of inventors

Tsukuba, Japan

Kazuo Shimizu