GB559426A - Isomerization of paraffin hydrocarbons - Google Patents

Abstract

559,426. Isomerizing hydrocarbons. SHELL DEVELOPMENT CO. May 20,1942, No. 6854. Convention date, June 2, 1941. Drawings to Specification. [Class 2 (iii)] Aliphatic hydrocarbons containing 5 to 10 carbon atoms are isomerized to branched chain hydrocarbons by passing them into contact with a Friedel-Crafts type catalyst at 40-130‹ C. in presence of a sufficient amount of a substantially non-isomerizable cycloparaffin hydrocarbon material such as cyclopentane, a mixture of methyl cyclopentane and cyclohexane, or a mixture of dimethyl cyclopentane and methyl cyclohexane, to inhibit degradation of the treated hydrocarbon and product. The catalyst may be aluminium chloride or bromide, alone or on a carrier, or mixed with other metal halides or organic complex compounds of aluminium halides, or dissolved in a mixture of molten metal halides such as AlCl 3 -NaCl-KCl, AlCl 3 -SbCl 3 , AlCl 3 -NaCl- ZnCl 2 , or AlCl 3 -SO 2 -ZnCl 2 , or a slurry of AlCl 3 or AlBr 3 in a liquid complex formed from AlCl 3 and an olefinic cycloparaffin such as cyclohexene. The isomers obtained include gem isomers, thus normal hexane gives 2, 2- dimethyl butane. Examples are given of the isomerization of normal pentane and hexane.