Kao Corporation

Noriaki Fukuoka

Yasuyuki Hattori

Taku Mimura

Kiyoshi Tsukada

Osamu Tabata

Kunizo Hashiba

Jun Kaita

Hiroshi Danjo

Shigeru Tamura

Takanobu Katayama

Nobuhiro Tatsumi

Atsuhito Mori

Hiroyuki Tamura

Katsutoshi Yamamoto

Makoto Misono

The present invention provides a catalyst for producing alcohols from carboxylic acids by hydrogenation, containing Co metal as an essential component and one or more elements selected from Zr, Y, La, Ce, Si, Al, Sc, V and Mo as a first co-catalyst component, and having 20% or more of cubic phase in the crystal phase of the Co metal, the method for producing the catalyst, and the method for producing an alcohol from a carboxylic acid as a raw material by hydrogenation using the catalyst.

Catalyst for producing alcohol

The present invention provides a process for producing lower alkyl fatty esters from fatty acids and lower alcohols, wherein lower alkyl fatty esters are produced in higher yield with a reduction in the amount of the remaining fatty acids. The process of the present invention comprises bringing fatty acids into contact with gaseous lower alcohols in fixed bed(s) charged with a weakly acidic solid catalyst by countercurrent operation, by co-current operation and subsequent countercurrent operation or by pseudo-countercurrent operation, thus feeding and reacting the fatty acids and lower alcohols in fixed-bed reactor(s) charged with a weakly acidic solid catalyst to produce lower alkyl fatty esters.

Process for producing lower alkyl fatty esters

The present invention provides a heterogeneous catalyst which is highly active, excellent in selectivity and free from elution of its catalyst-components during reaction and which has long lifetime. That is, a phosphate of a metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, gallium and iron is used as the catalyst for transesterification of the present invention.

Catalyst for transesterification

Solid acid catalyst

A process for producing desulfurized fats and oils or fatty acid esters is disclosed, which comprises treating fats and oils or fatty acid esters under hydrogen or a mixture of hydrogen and an inert gas atmosphere at a pressure of from 0.1 to 500 kg/cm.sup.2 in the absolute pressure at a temperature of from 100.degree. to 350.degree. C. in the presence of a catalyst of the following formula (I):

Process for producing desulfurized fats and oils or fatty acid esters

A process for producing a hydrogenation reaction catalyst precursor is disclosed, including the steps of:

Process for producing hydrogenation reaction catalyst precursor

An alcohol is effective produced by catalytically reducing an organic carboxylic acid ester with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst obtained by reducing a catalyst precursor comprising (A) copper oxide and (B) titanium oxide and/or titanium hydroxide at a weight ratio of (A) to (B) in the range between 15/85 and 65/35. The component (A) may be alternatively a composite metal oxide comprises copper oxide and up to 20 wt. % of zinc oxide.

Growing community of inventors

Wakayama, Japan

Noriaki Fukuoka