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AssigneeCytec Technology Corp.
InventorsMark Donal Ryan, John Bradley Roucis, James Donald Carruthers
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Stable highly active supported copper based catalysts of copper oxide or elemental copper crystallites supported on mechanically stable aluminum oxide are disclosed. These catalysts are characterized by high surface area, small copper crystallite size, and high metal loading. The average crystallite size of the copper compound is from about 20 to about 300 Å, the copper loading is from about 10 to about 35 weight percent, the average particle diameter is from about 0.1 mm to about 10 mm, and the total surface area is from about 20 to about 400 square meters per gram. The catalysts are useful for hydration of nitrites to amides, especially hydration of acrylonitrile to acrylamide. The catalysts are distinguished by high mechanical stability, extended lifetime, and excellent resistance to hydration and copper leaching.
A process for at least partially hydrating a nitrile to an amide, the process comprising the steps of selecting a catalyst, wherein said catalyst comprises crystallites of at least one copper compound deposited upon particles of a mechanically stable phase of aluminum oxide, wherein the crystallites have an average size of from about 20 to about 300 angstroms, the particles have an average diameter of from about 1 μm to about 20 mm, and wherein about 10 to about 35 weight percent of a total weight of the catalyst is copper metal, loading a quantity of said catalyst and a mixture, said mixture comprising a quantity of water and a quantity of a nitrile, into a reactor and contacting the mixture and the catalyst therein in a manner and at a temperature effective to convert at least a portion of the nitrile into the amide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.