Patent ID: 7560608

Claim:
A method of preparing a xylene product comprising: forming a slurry of a binder-free ZSM-5 zeolite having a SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 mole ratio of from about 250 to about 3000 and an aqueous solution of a phosphorus compound; removing water from the slurry to provide a non-steamed, phosphorus treated ZSM-5 zeolite catalyst without deposition of phosphorus onto the catalyst by organophosphorus vapor deposition, and wherein the resulting non-steamed, phosphorus treated ZSM-5 zeolite catalyst has a pore volume of from 0.2 ml/g or less; and contacting the treated zeolite catalyst with an aromatic feed of toluene and methanol under reaction conditions suitable for toluene methylation to provide a xylene product having greater than 80% para-xylene by total mixed xylenes.