Disclosed herein are methods for synthesizing 1,2,5,6-hexanetetrol (HTO), 1,6 hexanediol (HDO) and other reduced polyols from C5 and C6 sugar alcohols or R glycosides. The methods include contacting the sugar alcohol or R-glycoside with a copper catalyst, most desirably a Raney copper catalyst with hydrogen for a time, temperature and pressure sufficient to form reduced polyols having 2 to 3 fewer hydoxy groups than the starting material. When the starting compound is a C6 sugar alcohol such as sorbitol or R-glycoside of a C6 sugar such as methyl glucoside, the predominant product is HTO. The same catalyst can be used to further reduce the HTO to HDO.

Disclosed herein are methods for synthesizing 1,2,5,6-hexanetetrol (HTO), 1,6 hexanediol (HDO) and other reduced polyols from C5 and C6 sugar alcohols or R glycosides. The methods include contacting the sugar alcohol or R-glycoside with a copper catalyst, most desirably a Raney copper catalyst with hydrogen for a time, temperature and pressure sufficient to form reduced polyols having 2 to 3 fewer hydoxy groups than the starting material. When the starting compound is a C6 sugar alcohol such as sorbitol or R-glycoside of a C6 sugar such as methyl glucoside, the predominant product is HTO. The same catalyst can be used to further reduce the HTO to HDO.

A method for preparing isophorone diisocyanate by (1) reacting isophorone with hydrogen cyanide in the presence of a catalyst to obtain isophorone nitrile; (2) reacting the isophorone nitrile obtained in step (1) with ammonia gas and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst to obtain isophorone diamine; and (3) subjecting the isophorone diamine to a phosgenation reaction to obtain the isophorone diisocyanate, wherein the content of impurities containing a secondary amine group in the isophorone diamine that undergoes the phosgenation reaction in step (3) is ?0.5 wt. The method reduces the content of hydrolyzed chlorine in the isophorone diisocyanate product, improves the yellowing resistance of the product, and the harm due to presence of hydrolyzed chlorine in the product is reduced.

A method for preparing isophorone diisocyanate by (1) reacting isophorone with hydrogen cyanide in the presence of a catalyst to obtain isophorone nitrile; (2) reacting the isophorone nitrile obtained in step (1) with ammonia gas and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst to obtain isophorone diamine; and (3) subjecting the isophorone diamine to a phosgenation reaction to obtain the isophorone diisocyanate, wherein the content of impurities containing a secondary amine group in the isophorone diamine that undergoes the phosgenation reaction in step (3) is ?0.5 wt. The method reduces the content of hydrolyzed chlorine in the isophorone diisocyanate product, improves the yellowing resistance of the product, and the harm due to presence of hydrolyzed chlorine in the product is reduced.

The present invention discloses an inventive method for manufacturing a catalyst using alloy granules having a high-Ni content. The inventive method may include providing alloy granules comprising aluminum and nickel, and treating the alloy granules with an alkaline solution to form the catalyst. A content of the nickel in the alloy granules may be within a range of about 43 wt % to about 60 wt %. The alloy granules may have effective diameters within a range of about 1 mm to about 10 mm. The catalyst may have an attrition value of less than about 7.0%.

The present invention concerns a process for preparing a tetrahydrofuran compound comprising at least two amine functional groups by reacting a furan compound comprising at least two nitrogen-containing functional groups with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst.

The present invention concerns a process for preparing a tetrahydrofuran compound comprising at least two amine functional groups by reacting a furan compound comprising at least two nitrogen-containing functional groups with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst.

The invention provides a catalyst system comprising: a) one or more Group 1 metal phosphotungstate-containing species; and b) one or more catalytic species suitable for hydrogenation; and a process for the preparation of monoethylene glycol from starting material comprising one or more saccharides, by contacting said starting material with hydrogen in a reactor in the presence of a solvent and said catalyst system.

Provided herein is a novel process for providing a fixed catalyst bed including doped structured shaped catalyst bodies, to a reactor including such a fixed catalyst bed installed in a fixed location, and to a use of the fixed catalyst beds and reactors thus obtained for hydrogenation reactions.

The present invention relates to processes for producing cut metal bodies, comprising the providing of metal bodies, the subsequent applying of metal-containing powders, a thermal treatment for alloy formation and the splitting of the alloyed metal bodies using a process selected from the group: severing, machining with geometrically defined cutting edge and waterjet cutting. The temperature profile in the thermal treatment allows alloy formation to take place at the contact surface between metal body and metal-containing powder, but at the same time leaving unalloyed regions in the interior of the metal body. The present invention further relates to processes in which the splitting of the alloyed metal bodies is followed by a treatment with leaching agent so as to obtain catalytically active metal bodies. The use of the inventive splitting process for producing the cut metal bodies affords particularly active catalysts. The present invention further relates to the use of the catalysts obtained by the processes of the invention in chemical transformations.