Patent ID: 7544848

Claim:
A process for disproportionation of toluene comprising: a. distilling a feedstock comprising toluene and C 8 aromatics to provide a lighter fraction enriched in toluene and a heavier fraction enriched in C 8 aromatics; b. subjecting at least a portion of the lighter fraction containing toluene to toluene disproportionation conditions including the presence of catalyst to provide a reaction effluent containing C 8 aromatics, toluene and benzene and also containing benzene co-boilers; c. distilling the reaction effluent to provide a lower boiling fraction rich in benzene and a higher boiling fraction rich in toluene and C 8 aromatics and also containing less than about 5 mass percent benzene; and d. passing the higher boiling fraction of step (c) to step (a), wherein the lighter fraction enriched in toluene contains benzene.