Sulfolene hydrogenation
AssigneePhillips Petroleum Company
InventorsMartin E. Nash, Edward E. Huxley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Prior to hydrogenation to produce sulfolane, a sulfolene feed containing sulfur-containing catalyst poisons is contacted with used and/or at least partially spent Raney nickel catalyst under conditions which substantially remove and/or render innocuous the catalyst poisons. The pretreatment removes sulfur dioxide and polymeric sulfones from the sulfolene which would otherwise contaminate and deactivate the fresh catalyst employed in the hydrogenation.
Claims15
In a process for producing a sulfolane compound wherein a feed comprising a sulfolene compound containing sulfur dioxide and other sulfur-containing catalyst poisons is catalytically hydrogenated in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst, the improvement comprising pretreating said feed prior to hydrogenation by contacting same in the presence of hydrogen with a used and/or at least partially spent Raney nickel catalyst which contains some degree of scavenging activity under liquid phase conditions and at a temperature in the range of about 10.degree. to about 70.degree. C. and a hydrogen pressure from about 100 to about 7,000 kPa sufficient to substantially remove and/or render innocuous said catalyst poisons.
A process for converting sulfolene to sulfolane which comprises
- (a) pretreating a feed of at least one sulfolene compound containing sulfur dioxide and other sulfur-containing catalyst poisons by contacting same in the presence of hydrogen and a tertiary amine compound with a used and/or at least partially spent Raney nickel catalyst in liquid phase and under conditions sufficient to remove and/or render innocuous said catalyst poisons,
- (b) separating at least a portion of said spent catalyst from the reaction mixture of (a) leaving a liquid phase of product and some spent catalyst, and
- (c) contacting the liquid phase of (b) substantially freed of catalyst poisons with active hydrogenation catalysts under conditions which convert said sulfolene compound to sulfolane compound.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.