Alkylated naphthalene compositions obtained through blending or processing of monoalkylated and dialkylated naphthalene fractions

Abstract

Alkylated naphthalene compositions are usually formed by reacting naphthalene with an electrophilic agent under acid-catalyzed conditions to afford a mixture of monoalkylated naphthalenes, dialkylated naphthalenes, and sometimes polyalkylated naphthalenes. Reaction conditions are usually chosen to change the product distribution for purposes of modifying lubricant properties such as viscosity or volatility. Rarely does the product distribution exceed 90 wt. % monoalkylated naphthalenes. Viscosity and volatility may alternately be modified by obtaining a first fraction enriched in monoalkylated naphthalenes and a second fraction enriched in dialkylated naphthalenes and combining the first fraction and the second fraction in a specified ratio to produce a modified alkylated naphthalene composition having a targeted value of one of the viscosity or the volatility. The first fraction and the second fraction may be obtained by fractional distillation of a first alkylated naphthalene composition to afford an overhead fraction and a bottoms fraction.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.