Process for the preparation of isopropanol

A process for the preparation of phenol comprising:

• a) alkylating benzene with isopropanol and/or propylene thereby producing cumene;
• b) oxidizing the cumene of step a) thereby producing cumene hydroperoxide;
• c) cleaving the cumene hydroperoxide by acid thereby producing phenol and benzene-containing acetone;
• d) optionally concentrating the benzene-containing acetone produced in step c);
• and
• e) hydrogenating the benzene-containing acetone of step c) or, if present, step d) thereby producing isopropanol containing hydrogenation products of benzene.

A process for the hydrogenation of a benzene-containing feed of acetone comprising the steps of:

• i) hydrogenating a benzene-containing feed of acetone in the presence of hydrogen thereby producing a reaction product containing isopropanol;
• ii) separating gaseous products from the reaction product of i) thereby producing a liquid reaction product;
• iii) separating light by-products and unreacted acetone from the liquid reaction product of ii) thereby producing a crude isopropanol product;
• iv) separating heavy by-products from the crude isopropanol product of iii) thereby producing a purified isopropanol product;
• and
• v) recycling unreacted acetone and/or part of the light by-products obtained in step iii) and/or part of the heavy by-products in step iv) to the hydrogenation step i).