Patent ID: 7396969

Claim:
A liquid phase process for preparing cumene, said process comprising contacting benzene with propylene in the presence of an alkylation catalyst under suitable alkylation reaction conditions to provide said cumene, wherein said alkylation catalyst is self-bound, and free of binder materials and comprises a synthetic porous crystalline material of MCM-22, said alkylation catalyst is prepared by mulling crystals of said synthetic porous crystalline material of MCM-22 with water, wherein said alkylation reaction conditions include a temperature of between about 50° C. and 250° C., a pressure of from about 1 to 70 atmospheres, a feed weight hourly space velocity of from about 30 to 100, and a molar ratio of aromatic compound to alkylating agent of from about 0.5:1 to 5:1.