METHOD OF PRODUCING XYLENE ISOMERS (VERSIONS) Russian patent published in 2013 - IPC C07C6/12 C07C7/13 

FIELD: chemistry.

SUBSTANCE: method involves contacting starting material containing C₉ aromatic hydrocarbons on a non-sulphided catalyst having macropore volume from about 0.02 cm³/g to about 0.5 cm³/g. The catalyst has a support which is impregnated with a hydrogenation component which is a group VIB metal or oxide thereof. The support contains macroporous binder with pore size greater than 500 E and a large-pore sieve with pore size of at least 6 E, with hourly average rate of feeding the starting material of 0.1-30, pressure of 0.17-6.9 MPa or higher and temperature of 200-800°C. The invention also relates to a method of producing xylene isomers by contacting starting material which contains C₆-C₈ aromatic hydrocarbons which employs the same catalyst.

EFFECT: use of the present invention enables to overcome diffusion limitations observed when using highly active catalysts lacking such macropores.

8 cl, 20 tbl, 17 ex, 1 dwg