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US 5,478,952 AGranted
Ru,Re/carbon catalyst for hydrogenation in aqueous solution
AssigneeE. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company
InventorJo-Ann T. Schwartz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Improved hydrogenation catalysts consisting essentially of highly dispersed, reduced ruthenium and rhenium on carbon support and methods of making and using the same. Such catalysts exhibit high conversion rates in aqueous solution hydrogenation of hydrogenatable precursors (e.g., maleic acid, succinic acid, .gamma.-butyrolactone, etc.) to tetrahydrofuran, 1,4-butanediol and mixtures thereof.
Claims7
A method for catalytic hydrogenation of a hydrogenatable precursor in an aqueous solution comprising the steps of:
- (a) hydrogenating a hydrogenatable precursor in an aqueous solution in the presence of hydrogen and a catalyst, said catalyst consisting essentially of at least 0.1% by weight ruthenium and at least 0.1% by weight rhenium supported on carbon, said percentages based on total weight of supported catalyst, wherein both ruthenium and rhenium are present in a highly dispersed reduced state;
- said carbon support is characterized by a BET surface area of less than 2,000 m.sup.2 /g and said catalyst is characterized by a space-time-yield for conversion of maleic acid to tetrahydrofuran in excess of 600 grams of product per kilogram of catalyst per hour at 250.degree. C. and 2,000 psig total pressure;
- and then
- (b) recovering at least one hydrogenated product.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.