JPH07179369A - Production of cycloolefin - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a method for production of a cycloolefin by partial reduc tion or an aromatic monocyclic hydrocarbon, capable of remarkably improving the catalyst life and very useful from the industrial viewpoint. CONSTITUTION:This method is to partly reduce an aromatic monocyclic hydrocarbon with hydrogen in the presence of a ruthenium catalyst and water in a liquid phase at a high temperature and a high pressure. The characteristic of this method for production of a cycloolefin is that the aromatic monocyclic hydrocarbon contains 0.5 to 1000ppm biphenyls.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for partially reducing a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon using a ruthenium catalyst, and more particularly to a method for partially reducing benzene to produce cyclohexene. Cyclohexene is a compound useful as an important intermediate raw material for polyamide raw materials such as lactams and dicarboxylic acids, lysine raw materials, pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various methods are known for producing monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Among them, a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon is allowed to contain a ruthenium catalyst and an additive such as an alkali agent or a metal salt. The method of partial reduction with hydrogen in the presence of an aqueous solution has a high selectivity for the corresponding cycloolefin,
It is considered to be a preferable method (Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 56-22850,
JP-A-577-130926, JP-B-57-7607,
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 61-40226 and 62-45544
etc).

[0003]

However, since a costly ruthenium catalyst is generally used in the method for producing cycloolefins, how long the activity and selectivity of the catalyst can be maintained, that is, catalyst life It will be an extremely important point in the practical application of the technology. In the above-mentioned conventional technique, the catalyst life is not sufficient, and it is necessary to find a method for further improving the catalyst life.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to improve the drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a more industrially advantageous process for producing cyclohexene. In order to achieve this goal, the inventors of the present invention have made extensive studies, and as a result, have found that the catalyst life is remarkably improved by adding biphenyls to the reaction system, and arrived at the present invention.

That is, the gist of the present invention is to provide a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon at a high temperature in a liquid phase in the presence of a ruthenium catalyst and water.
In the method of partial reduction with hydrogen under high pressure, biphenyls are added in an amount of 0.5 to 1000 p in a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.
pm is present. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

Examples of the monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon used as a raw material in the present invention include benzene and benzene substituted with a lower alkyl group having about 4 or less carbon atoms, such as toluene and xylene. An important feature of the present invention is that biphenyls are added to the above monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in an amount of 0.
5 to 1000 ppm, preferably 1 to 500 ppm is present. In the present invention, the presence of the biphenyls in the above range suppresses the decrease in the activity and selectivity for the desired reaction. It is considered that this is a phenomenon peculiar to this reaction system in that the deterioration of the selectivity of the reaction is suppressed. If the addition amount is less than the above range, the effect of improving the catalyst life will not be recognized, and if the addition amount exceeds the above range, the effect will not be further improved with the increase of the addition amount.

Specific examples of the biphenyls include biphenyl, 4-methylbiphenyl, 4,4'-dimethylbiphenyl, 2,2 ', 5,5'-tetramethylbiphenyl and the like having 1 to 4 carbon atoms. Also included are biphenyl derivative compounds that are nuclear substituted with a degree of alkyl groups. The reason why the presence of biphenyls improves the active catalyst is not clear, but it is considered to be due to the prevention of the adhesion of the active deterioration component accumulated on the catalyst surface. The phenomenon of the present invention is
This has been clarified for the first time by the present inventors as a result of detailed examination of the catalyst life over a long period of time. The effect of the present invention becomes more remarkable when the catalyst is used for a long time.

The trace impurities contained in the monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can be analyzed by a gas chromatograph connected with an atomic emission detector, or more simply, concentrated benzene can be analyzed by a gas chromatograph. There is a method of analysis. The present inventors analyzed many industrially available benzenes and found that some benzenes do not contain biphenyls and some contain benzene. It is considered that the difference in the content of the impurities is due to the difference in the method of producing benzene or the difference in the source of benzene.

In the present invention, it is preferable to select and use benzene containing biphenyls at such a concentration from the beginning, in that the step of adding biphenyls to benzene can be omitted. When using a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon having a small content of such a compound or a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon not containing such a compound, it is necessary to add biphenyls to a predetermined concentration.

As the ruthenium catalyst in the present invention,
Those obtained by reducing various ruthenium compounds, or other metals such as zinc, chromium, molybdenum, cobalt, manganese at or after the preparation stage thereof.
It is a catalyst mainly composed of ruthenium containing nickel, iron, gold and copper. By adding these metal components, the reaction rate is generally slightly lower than that of ruthenium alone, but the selectivity can be increased. When another metal is used together with ruthenium, the atomic ratio to ruthenium is usually selected in the range of 0.1 to 10.

The various ruthenium compounds are not particularly limited, but for example, chlorides, bromides, iodides, nitrates, hydrochlorides, hydroxides, oxides, or various ruthenium-containing complexes can be used. . As the reduction method, reduction with hydrogen gas or a chemical reduction method with formalin, sodium borohydride, hydrazine or the like can be performed. The ruthenium catalyst may be supported on a carrier, and examples of the carrier include silica, alumina, silica-alumina, zeolite, activated carbon, or general metal oxides, complex oxides, hydroxides, sparingly water-soluble metal salts and the like. To be done. Ruthenium is a method in which various ruthenium compounds are usually used as a carrier, for example, an ion exchange method,
It is supported by an adsorption method, a coprecipitation method, a dry solidification method, or the like. As the supported ruthenium compound, a ruthenium chloride, bromide, iodide, nitrate, hydrochloride, hydroxide, oxide, or complex containing various ruthenium, or in these compounds, reduced ruthenium to a metal state. It is a thing. Further, other metals may be co-supported after the preparation of these catalysts. The amount of ruthenium supported is usually 0.0
It is 1 to 10% by weight.

The reaction system of the present invention requires the presence of water. The amount of water varies depending on the reaction mode, but is usually 0.01 to 20 times by weight, preferably 0.1 to 5 times the amount of benzene. If there is too little water or too much water, the effect of coexistence decreases. Further, with a preferable amount of water, the reaction liquid taken out from the reaction system is separated into an organic phase and an aqueous phase, and the target cyclohexene contained in the organic phase is easily recovered.

Further, in the reaction system of the present invention, a metal salt may coexist in water. As such a metal salt, IU
It is effective to add a metal salt of Group 1 element, Group 2 element, zinc, iron, manganese, cobalt, etc. of the periodic table of PAC inorganic compound nomenclature (1989 version), and particularly preferable reaction by addition of zinc salt. You will get a grade. Here, as salts of various metals, for example, weak acid salts such as carbonates and acetates, and strong acid salts such as hydrochlorides, sulfates and nitrates are used. The amount of metal salt used is usually 1 × 1 with respect to coexisting water.
0 ^-5 to 1 times by weight.

In the reaction of the present invention, the reaction temperature is usually 50 to 2
The reaction is carried out at a high temperature and a high pressure of 50 ° C., preferably 100 to 220 ° C. and a reaction pressure of usually 0.1 to 20 MPa.
The reaction can be carried out batchwise or continuously, but industrially it is usually carried out continuously. The reaction is carried out by supplying hydrogen gas to a liquid reaction mixture in which the raw materials benzene, water, a catalyst and the like are suspended, and hydrogen gas is supplied into the liquid reaction mixture through a nozzle opening.

[0015]

EXAMPLES Examples will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. Example 1 A reactor in which a static tank was installed was used, benzene containing 2 ppm of biphenyl was used, and 33.9 benzene was used.
Wt%, 1.4 wt% of ruthenium catalyst supported on silica, and 64.7 wt% of a zinc sulfate aqueous solution of 64.7 wt% were supplied with hydrogen gas from a nozzle opening, a reaction pressure of 5.0 MPa, and a temperature of 150 Benzene containing 2 ppm of biphenyl was continuously supplied while performing high-speed stirring at 0 ° C. to carry out a partial reduction reaction of benzene (average residence time of oil phase: 35 minutes). Further, the oil phase was separated in a stationary tank in the reactor, and only the oil phase was continuously collected. Five hours after the start of the reaction, the collected oil phase was analyzed by gas chromatography. The benzene conversion was 36.3%, the cyclohexene selectivity was 76.3%, and the other product was cyclohexane. When the collected oil phase was analyzed 500 hours after the start of the reaction, the benzene conversion rate was 34.7% and the cyclohexene selectivity was 74.7%.

Example 2 A partial reduction reaction of benzene was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the concentration of biphenyl in benzene was 50 ppm. When the oil phase was analyzed 500 hours after the start of the reaction, the benzene conversion rate was 35.1% and the cyclohexene selectivity was 75.9%.

Comparative Example 1 A partial reduction reaction of benzene was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 except that benzene having a biphenyl concentration in benzene of 0.5 ppm or less was used. Two hours after the start of the reaction, the collected oil phase was analyzed, whereupon the benzene conversion rate was 35.5% and the cyclohexene selectivity was 75.5%. Reaction start 5
After 00 hours, the oil phase collected was analyzed and found to have a benzene conversion rate of 25.3% and a cyclohexene selectivity of 60.7.
%Met.

[0018]

Industrial Applicability According to the method of the present invention, the catalyst life can be remarkably improved in the partial reduction reaction of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and is industrially very useful.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method of partially reducing a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon with hydrogen in the liquid phase at high temperature and high pressure in the presence of a ruthenium catalyst and water, wherein biphenyls are reduced to 0 in the monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. A method for producing cycloolefin, characterized in that the cycloolefin is present in an amount of 0.5 to 1000 ppm.