Hydrodealkylation of C.sub.9 + aromatic compounds

A process comprising the steps of:

• (1) contacting an alumina with an acid site modifier precursor under a condition sufficient to incorporate said acid site modifier precursor into said alumina to form an acid site-modified alumina;
• (2) contacting said acid site-modified alumina with a phosphorus-containing compound and a metal compound under a condition sufficient to incorporate said phosphorus-containing compound and metal compound into said acid site-modified alumina to produce a modified alumina and (3) treating said modified alumina with steam under a condition sufficient to effect the conversion of said metal compound to its corresponding metal oxide wherein said acid site modifier precursor is selected from the group consisting of silicon-containing Compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, boron-containing compounds, magnesium-containing compounds, tin-containing compounds, titanium-containing compounds, zirconium-containing compounds, molybdenum-containing compounds, germanium-containing compounds, indium-containing compounds, lanthanum-containing compounds, cesium-containing compounds, and combinations of any two or more thereof;
• and the metal of said metal compound is selected from the group consisting of chromium, cobalt, molybdenum, nickel, rhodium, palladium, platinum, tungsten, and combinations of any two or more thereof.

A process comprising (1) contacting a silicon-containing compound with an alumina to produce a silicon-modified alumina;

• (2) contacting said silicon-modified alumina with a phosphorus-containing compound and a molybdenum-containing compound to produce a modified alumina;
• and (3) steam-treating said modified alumina.