GB734431A - Improvements in and relating to the production of aliphatic hydrocarbons - Google Patents

Abstract

Olefinic and/or paraffinic hydrocarbons are produced by treating an olefinic and/or paraffinic glycol with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst such as those normally employed in hydrogenation or dehydrogenation reactions such as metals of Group VIII, at a temperature of 150-400 DEG C. The reaction may be carried out in the liquid or vapour phase and in a batch or continuous process. The hydrogen may be employed at a pressure of 5 to 500 atmospheres. The catalyst may be nickel, copper, copper barium chromite, nickel aluminium alloy containing 42 per cent of nickel, copper aluminium containing 55 per cent of copper, copper silicon containing 80-92 per cent of copper, or tungsten or molybdenum sulphide. The initial material may be an acetylenic glycol in which case it is first converted to a mixture of an olefinic and a paraffinic glycol. When an olefinic glycol is used as the starting material, it is preferably heated in the liquid phase in the presence of hydrogen at a temperature of 60-80 DEG C. In example I, an aqueous solution of 2,5 - di - methylhexene - 2,5 diol was passed with hydrogen over nickel at 195 DEG C., 99 per cent of the diol is converted to give a mixture consisting chiefly of 2,5-dimethylhexane, and 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl tetrahydrofuran, with lesser amounts of 2,5-dimethyl-hex-2-ene and 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl - 2,5 - dihydrofuran. In example 2, 2,5 - dimethylhex - 3 - ene - 2,5 diol, and example 3, 2,5-dimethylhex-3-yne-2,5 diol were given a preliminary treatment at 80 DEG C. and a final treatment at 250 DEG C. 2,5-Dimethylhexene may subsequently be converted to paraxylene.