Etherification of phenol

A process for etherifying a feed containing one or more phenols which comprises contacting said feed, at elevated temperature, with a reactant selected from the group consisting essentially of aliphatic alcohols, aliphatic ethers and mixtures thereof in the presence of an acid catalyst comprising a sulfated composite of an oxide of a metal selected from the group consisting essentially of W, Hf, Nb, Ta, Zr and mixtures thereof on a high surace area alumina support, for a time sufficient to convert at least a portion of said alcohol present in said feed to its corresponding ether with said reactant.

A process for etherifying phenols present in a naphtha feed derived from the liquefaction of coal, said process comprising contacting said feed with a reactant selected from the group consisting essentially of (a) a low molecular weight aliphatic alcohol, (b) a low molecular weight ether and mixture thereof, at a temperature of at least about 200.degree. C. in the presence of an acid catalyst comprising a sulfated and calcined composite of a transition metal oxide selected from the group consisting essentially of oxides of W, Hf, Nb, Ta, Zr and mixtures thereof on a gamma alumina support, for a time sufficient to convert at least a portion of said phenols in said feed to their corresponding ether products with said reactant.

A process for etherifying phenol comprising contacting said phenol with a one to four carbon atom reactant selected from the group consisting essentially of alkyl alcohol, alkyl ether and mixtures thereof at a temperature of at least about 200.degree. C. in the presence of an acid catalyst comprising a sulfated composite of transition metal oxide selected from the group consisting essentially of oxides of W, Hf, Nb, Ta, Zr and mixtures thereof on a .gamma.-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 support for a time sufficient to form an ether product boiling below about 460.degree. F. from the phenol and reactant and wherein said catalyst contains at least about 2 wt. % sulfate ions.