Patent ID: 7700813

Claim:
A process for making an isobutanol-containing product, comprising: contacting a reactant comprising ethanol and methanol with a catalyst at a reaction temperature and pressure sufficient to produce said reaction product, wherein said catalyst is derived from a hydrotalcite of the formula: [M 2+ 1−x M 3+ x (OH) 2 ][{(M′A′) n′−} a A n− (1−a)(n′/n)]x/n′.y H 2 O wherein M 2+ is divalent Mg, or a combination of divalent Mg and at least one divalent member selected from the group consisting of Zn, Ni, Pd, Pt, Co, Fe, and Cu; M 3+ is trivalent Al, or a combination of trivalent Al and at least one trivalent member selected from the group consisting of Fe and Cr; x is 0.66 to 0.1; M′ is (i) one or more divalent members selected from the group consisting of Zn, Ni, Pd, Pt, Fe, Co, and Cu; or (ii) one or more trivalent members selected from the group consisting of Fe, Cr, and Ru; or (iii) a mixture of one or more of said divalent members with one or more of said trivalent members; A′ is an anion of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; n′ is absolute value of a sum of an oxidation state of M′ and (−4); provided that if M′ is said mixture, then n′ is calculated according to the following equation: n ′=an absolute value of [X D (2)+X D (−4)+X T (3)+X T (−4)], wherein X D =a sum of a number of moles of all divalent members divided by (a sum of a number of moles of all divalent members+a sum of a number of moles of all trivalent members), and X T =a sum of the number of moles of all trivalent members divided by (the sum of the number of moles of all divalent members+the sum of the number of moles of all trivalent members); A n− is CO 3 2− with n=2 or OH − with n=1; a=0.001 to 1; and y=0 to 4; wherein the hydrotalcite catalyst is partially decomposed.