Maleic Anhydride → Gamma-Butyrolactone

Participants

Reaction Steps

A free-flowing, pelletable catalyst mixture is prepared by the procedure 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 2.0% Re by exposing the catalyst for 100 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 (infrared) yielding 55% gamma-butyrolactone, 14.2% tetrahydrofuran, and 1.3% 1,4-butanediol after a reaction time of 5 hours.

Provenance & Evidence