-Benzene was alkylated with ethylene at 275-300°C under an initial ethylene pressure of 40kg/cm
2.As the catalysts, CuO-H
3PO
4, ZnO-H
3PO
4, NiO-H
3PO
4 and CdO-H
3PO
4 were tested and only CuO-H
3PO
4 catalyst was active at the above-desrcibed con-ditions, the others being inactive.
The optimum mole ratio of H
3PO
4 to CuO was 1.5.The highest yield of ethylbenzene was 89.2% when the mole ratio of ethylene to benzene was 0.261.
Next, petroleum cracked gas was used in place of ethylene.The ethylation of benzene was accelerated by the presence of propylene, and the simultaneous preparation of cumene and ethylbenzene was successfully carried out at 275-300°C, the yields of ethyl-benzene and cumene being 94.3% and 97.0% respectively.
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