Patent ID: 6437191
Filing Date: 2002-08-20
Classification: B01J,C07C,Y02P

Abstract:
A process for the liquid phase acylation of an aromatic compound (I) of the formula (R1R2R3R4)â€”Dâ€”H by an acylating agent (II) of the formula (R5R6R7)â€”Yâ€”Z to produce corresponding acylated aromatic compound (III) of the formula ((R1R2R3R4)â€”Dâ€”Yâ€”(R5R6R7), wherein D is an aromatic nucleus selected from single aromatic ring containing 6 C-atoms and 1 H-atom or fused two aromatic rings containing 10 C-atoms and 3 H-atoms and three fused aromatic rigs containing 14 C-atoms and 5 H-atoms;R1, R2, R3 and R4 are chemical groups attached to the aromatic nucleus, D; Y is a nucleus of the acylating agent selected from the group consisting of Câ€”CO, CnH2nâˆ’2CO, C6H2â€”CO, C6H2CnH2nâ€”CO and C6H2CnH2nâˆ’1(X)â€”CO; R5, R6 and R7 are chemical groups attached to the nucleus of acylating agent Y; Z is selected from Cl, Br and I; X is a halogen group; and n is an interger &gE;1.0, using a solid catalyst (IV), comprising indium halide, represented by a formula MxIn1âˆ’xAy(a)/S â€ƒwherein S is a porous catalyst support selected from clays, zeolites and zeolite-like materials; M is a metallic chemical element selected from the group consisting of Ga, Fe, Zn, Ti or a mixture of two or more thereof; A is a non-metallic chemical element selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br, I, F and a mixture of two or more thereof; x is a mole fraction of M and is in the range from 0.01 to 0.99; y is the number of A atoms required to satisfy the valence requirement of MxIn1âˆ’x; and a is the loading of MxIn1âˆ’x A on the support S and is in the range of from 0.05 mmol.gâˆ’1 to 5.0 mmol.gâˆ’1; said process comprising v) pretreating said catalyst (IV) under vacuum or flow of an inert gas select from nitrogen, helium and argon at a temperature in the range from 50Â° C. to 300Â° C. for a period sufficient to remove adsorbed moisture from the catalyst; vi) contacting a liquid reaction mixture comprising said aromatic compound (I) and said acylating agent (II) in the presence or absence of a non-aqueous solvent with the pretreated catalyst in a stirred batch reactor fitted with a reflux condenser under vigorous stirring, in the presence or absence of an inert gas bubbling through the reaction mixture, at following reaction conditions: weight ratio of catalyst (IV) to acylating agent (II) in the range from about 0.05 to about 5.0, mole ratio of aromatic compound to acylating agent in the range from about 0. 1 to about 100, weight ratio of non-aqueous solvent to aromatic compound in the range from zero to about 100, reaction temperature in the range from about 10Â° C. to about 300Â° C., pressure at least 1.0 atm, gas hourly space velocity of inert gas bubbled through the liquid reaction mixture in the range from zero hâˆ’1 to about 5000 hâˆ’1 and reaction period in the range from about 0.02 h to about 100 h; vii) cooling the reaction mixture to a temperature about 30Â° C., removing said reaction mixture by filtration and then separating the reaction products from the reaction mixture, and optionally washing the used catalyst by non-aqueous solvent or aromatic substrate; and viii) reusing the used catalyst for subsequent reaction batch.