Maleic Anhydride → Gamma-Butyrolactone

Participants

Reaction Steps

A free-flowing, pelletable catalyst mixture is prepared by the method described in EP 0 648 534 A1 for a catalyst consisting of 1000 g of 50%Ni and 50%Al alloy powder, 7.5 g of pure nickel powder (99% Ni, and d50=21 μm), and 50 g of ethylene bis-stearoylamide. Tablets with a diameter of 4 mm and a thickness of 4 mm are compressed from this mixture. The shaped items are calcined for 2 h at 700° C. The tablets are activated in 20% strength caustic soda solution for 2 hours at 80° C. after calcination. This catalyst is doped to the level of 0.45% Re by exposing the catalyst for 48 h to a stirred perrhenic acid solution that is adjusted to a pH of 10.5 before adding the catalyst. Maleic anhydride is hydrogenated in the presence of the catalyst as described in Application Example 1 (infra) yielding 71.6% gamma butyrolactone, 4.7% tetrahydrofuran, and 1.3% 1.4-butanediol after a reaction time of 5 hours.

Provenance & Evidence