Improved process for alkylation of alkanes with C3 to C5 alkyl halides using a solid acid catalyst

摘要

Although olefins commonly are used to alkylate alkanes using various solid acid catalysts, the process is severely hampered by short catalyst lifetimes attending substantial olefin oligomerization. This problem is avoided by using an alkyl halide as the alkylating agent. Thus, alkylation of isobutane by olefin in the presence of a modified, AlCl3-type Friedel-Crafts catalyst at 30°C falls to about 77% in four hours, whereas alkylation with sec-butyl chloride at the same conditions fell to 88% over 30 hours.