Long chain secondary alcohols from fatty acids and fatty oils

摘要

Processes for producing long chain secondary alcohols from fatty acids and fatty oils, wherein at least one fatty acid or a fatty acid mixture is contacted with a ketonization catalyst in a ketonization catalyst under ketonization conditions to provide a long chain ketone, and the long chain ketone is contacted with a selective ketone hydrogenation catalyst that lacks catalytic activity for alcohol dehydration to selectively hydrogenate the long chain ketone to provide the corresponding long chain secondary alcohol.

主权项

1. A process comprising:
a) contacting at least one fatty acid with a ketonization catalyst in a ketonization zone under ketonization conditions to provide at least one long chain ketone according to the following Scheme 1:wherein R1 and R2 are independently selected from the group consisting of C5-C21 linear or branched alkyl and C5-C21 linear or branched alkenyl, and
b) contacting the at least one long chain ketone with a selective ketone hydrogenation catalyst in a ketone hydrogenation zone in the presence of hydrogen gas under selective ketone hydrogenation conditions to provide at least one long chain secondary alcohol according to the following Scheme 2:wherein:
R1 and R2 are the same or different, when R1 is alkyl R1′═R1, when R2 is alkyl R2′══R2, when R1 is alkenyl R1′ is alkyl or alkenyl, when R2 is alkenyl R2′ is alkyl or alkenyl, R1 and R1′ have an equal number of carbon atoms, R2 and R2′ have an equal number of carbon atoms, and step b) comprises selectively hydrogenating the at least one long chain ketone to selectively provide the at least one long chain secondary alcohol.