Method for the preparation of cyclohexanol and/or cyclohexanone

Abstract

An improved method for the preparation of cyclohexanol and/or cyclohexanone from benzene. Cyclohexanol and/or cyclohexanone is prepared by the steps of hydrogenating benzene to form a hydrogenation reaction mixture containing cyclohexene, unreacted benzene, and by-product cyclohexane, hydrating cyclohexene thus obtained to form a hydration reaction mixture containing cyclohexanol, unreacted benzene and by-product cyclohexane and/or oxidating this cyclohexene to form an oxidation reaction mixture containing cyclohexanone, unreacted benzene and by-product cyclohexane, recovering from said hydration reaction mixture the cyclohexanol product and/or from said oxidation reaction mixture the cyclohexanone product, and an organic phase containing unreacted benzene and by-product cyclohexane, and recycling unconverted benzene to the benzene hydrogenation step. The improvement comprises introducing the organic phase containing unreacted benzene and by-product cyclohexane into a dehydrogenation zone wherein by-product cyclohexane is dehydrogenated to benzene and recycled to the hydrogenation step together with the unreacted benzene.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.