Selective alkylation of toluene with propylene uses a metallic sodium catalyst on a K2CO3 carrier, with a transition metal oxide, esp. CeO2 and DyO2 as promoter. The molar input proportion of olefin is 10-0.5 pref. 6-2. Specifically, the sodium is 5% of the K2CO3 quantity. The promoter may be a lanthanide, or Fe2O3 and should comprise 1-5% of the catalyst quantity and may be added at the charging stage.
