A process for preparing C 2 -C 4 alcohols o gasoline quality from aqueous mixtures containing these

摘要

An improved process is disclosed for producing petrol-grade C2-C4 alcohols from aqueous mixtures which contain these alcohols. The improvement is that the aqueous mixture is reacted with a tertiary olefin in the presence of a catalyst having an acidic character, preferably at a temperature of from 40 to 90 DEG C and at a space velocity of from 5 to 25 litres of reactants per litre of catalyst per hour. Preferred catalysts are acidic ion-exchange resins, especially those having -SO3H groups. The temperature and space velocity ranges are critical in order to minimize the parasitic ether- forming reaction.