PROCESS OF OXIDATIVE DEHYDROGENATION USING A BORIA-ALUMINA CATALYST

摘要

The invention relates to a process of oxydehydrogenating an alkyl-substited aromatic hydrocarbon starting compound into the corresponding alkenyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbon product, respectively, which process comprises a step of contacting the starting compound and an oxidant at dehydrogenating conditions, in the presence of a boria-alumina catalyst, characterized in that the boria-alumina catalyst has been prepared by a co-precipitation method. The co-precipitation method comprises the steps of preparing a solution of aluminium salt in an organic medium, followed by adding to this solution a boron compound and then adding ammonia gas to the mixture obtained in previous step to form a precipitate and/or a gel. This process enables oxydehydrogenation of ethyl-benzene to styrene with high selectivity.