SIDE-CHAIN ALKYLATION OF TOLUENE WITH METHANOL OVER SINGLE ZEOLITE CATALYSTS

The side-chain alkylation of toluene with methanol has been studied ov er a number of prospective zeolite catalysts, such as Na-X, Cs-X and C s-B-X at atmospheric pressure in a fixed-bed reactor. Cs-X zeolite sho wed a higher activity than Cs-B-X and Na-X zeolites with respect to to luene conversion and yield of styrene, The effects of reaction tempera ture and molecular ratios of reactants have been investigated, The max imum toluene conversion of 25.5% and styrene to ethylbenzene mole rati o of 4 : 1 are obtained with Cs-X zeolite, The catalysts show good sta bility as found with time-on-stream studies.