Claims
- 1. In a process for coupling an alkene selected from ethene, propene, and mixtures thereof with an aromatic hydrocarbon having an active hydrogen on a saturated alpha-carbon in the presence of a supported potassium or potassium alloy as a catalyst, the improvement which comprises conducting the reaction in the presence of cesium oxide as a co-catalyst, the catalyst composition containing about 200-1500 weight % of support and about 4-40 mol % of co-catalyst, based on the amount of potassium or potassium alloy.
- 2. The process of claim 1 wherein the alkene is a mixture of propene and ethene.
- 3. The process of claim 1 wherein the alkene is propene.
- 4. The process of claim 1 wherein the aromatic hydrocarbon is a hydrocarbon corresponding to the formula RR'R"CH, in which R is an aryl group of up to 20 carbons and R' and R" are independently selected from hydrogen and alkyl and aryl groups of up to 20 carbons.
- 5. The process of claim 4 wherein the aromatic hydrocarbon is an alkylbenzene.
- 6. The process of claim 5 wherein the alkylbenzene is toluene.
- 7. The process of claim 1 wherein the supported catalyst is potassium.
- 8. The process of claim 1 wherein the supported catalyst is a sodium-potassium alloy having a potassium content of 40-90% by weight.
- 9. The process of claim 1 which is conducted at a temperature of about 100.degree.-300.degree. C.
- 10. The process of claim 9 wherein the reaction temperature is about 175.degree.-200.degree. C.
- 11. The process of claim 1 wherein the support is diatomaceous earth.
- 12. The process of claim 1 wherein the support is potassium carbonate.
- 13. The process of claim 1 wherein the support is alumina.
- 14. The process of claim 1 wherein propene is coupled with toluene at about 175.degree.-200.degree. C. in the presence of a supported potassium or alloy catalyst and the co-catalyst.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 276,531, filed Nov. 28, 1988, now abandoned
US Referenced Citations (10)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0676554 |
Dec 1963 |
CAX |
0128001 |
Jan 1987 |
EPX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
Eberhardt et al., "Catalytic Carbanionic Addition of Butadiene to Alkyl Aromatic Hydrocarbons", J. Org. Chem., vol. 30, pp. 82-84, 1965. |
Claff et al., "Metalation of the Alpha Carbon of Alkylaryl Hydrocarbons", J. Org. Chem., vol. 20, pp. 440-442; 981-986, 1955. |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
276531 |
Nov 1988 |
|