The present disclosure relates to methods for selectively hydrogenating acetylene, to methods for starting up a selective hydrogenation reactor, and to hydrogenation catalysts useful in such methods. In one aspect, the disclosure provides a method for selectively hydrogenating acetylene, the method comprising contacting a catalyst composition with a process gas. The catalyst composition comprises a porous support, palladium, and one or more ionic liquids. The process gas includes ethylene, present in the process gas in an amount of at least 20 mol. %; acetylene, present in the process gas in an amount of at least 1 ppm; and 0 to 190 ppm or at least 600 ppm carbon monoxide. At least 90% of the acetylene present in the process gas is hydrogenated, and the selective hydrogenation is conducted without thermal runaway.

The present disclosure relates to methods for selectively hydrogenating acetylene, to methods for starting up a selective hydrogenation reactor, and to hydrogenation catalysts useful in such methods. In one aspect, the disclosure provides a method for selectively hydrogenating acetylene, the method comprising contacting a catalyst composition with a process gas. The catalyst composition comprises a porous support, palladium, and one or more ionic liquids. The process gas includes ethylene, present in the process gas in an amount of at least 20 mol. %; and acetylene, present in the process gas in an amount of at least 1 ppm. At least 90% of the acetylene present in the process gas is hydrogenated, and the selective hydrogenation is conducted without thermal runaway. Notably, the process gas is contacted with the catalyst at a gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) based on total catalyst volume in one bed or multiple beds of at least 7,100 h.sup.1.

This invention relates to heterogeneous catalysts useful for selective hydrogenation of unsaturated hydrocarbons, comprising palladium and optionally a promoter, supported on a substrate, having an uncoated BET surface area of 9 m.sup.2/g, the surface being coated with an ionic liquid. Also described are methods of making the catalysts and methods of selective hydrogenation of acetylene and/or dienes in front-end mixed olefin feed streams.

The present invention relates to the technical field of chemical engineering and catalysis. Provided are an application of an ionic liquid in propylene glycol ether synthesis and a method for synthesizing a propylene glycol ether. The ionic liquid is a methyl carbonate ionic liquid, and is used as a catalyst for catalyzing propylene glycol ether synthesis. The method for synthesizing the propylene glycol ether comprises the following steps: placing propylene oxide and an alcohol within a reactor to contact a catalyst, and heating the mixture in an enclosed environment to 50-200 C. to obtain the propylene glycol ether, wherein the catalyst is a methyl carbonate ionic liquid. The method for synthesizing propylene glycol ether provided in the present invention is a green synthesis technique, and does not require special production equipment. The method has simple and easily controllable processes, and can be used in industrial production and applications.

This invention relates to heterogeneous catalysts useful for selective hydrogenation of unsaturated hydrocarbons, comprising palladium and optionally a promoter, supported on a substrate, having an uncoated BET surface area of 9 m.sup.2/g, the surface being coated with an ionic liquid. Also described are methods of making the catalysts and methods of selective hydrogenation of acetylene and/or dienes in front-end mixed olefin feed streams.

A catalyst system useful in the production of bisphenol-A comprises (a) an acidic heterogeneous catalyst; (b) a first catalyst promoter comprising at least one organic sulfur-containing compound; and (c) a second catalyst promoter different from the first catalyst promoter and comprising at least one organic Brnsted acidic ionic compound.

A hydrocarbon conversion process is described. The process involves contacting a hydrocarbon feed with a non-cyclic amide or thioamide based ionic liquid catalyst in a reaction zone under reaction conditions to form a mixture comprising reaction products, and the non-cyclic amide or thioamide based ionic liquid catalyst. Typical hydrocarbon conversion processes include alkylation, oligomerization, isomerization, disproportionation, and reverse disproportionation.

The present invention provides a catalyst system for producing cyclic carbonates from carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) and epoxide-based compounds comprising: a pre-catalyst; and a co-catalyst wherein said pre catalyst is BiCl.sub.3 and said co-catalyst is selected from tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (TBAB), tetra-n-butylammonium iodide (TBAI), tetra-n-butylphosphonium bromide (PBu.sub.4Br), tetra-n-butylphosphonium iodide (PBu.sub.4I) or mixtures thereof.

The present invention provides a catalyst system for producing cyclic carbonates comprising: a pre-catalyst, which is BiCl.sub.3 having amounts in the range from 5 to 10% by weight of silica support; a compound having formula (I) ##STR00001## wherein: Y is selected from bromide (Br.sup.?) or iodide (I.sup.?); R.sup.1, R.sup.2, and R.sup.3 are methyl group or R.sup.1, R.sup.2, and R.sup.3 are taken together to form a heteroaryl ring having formula (II) ##STR00002##
and a silica (SiO.sub.2) support.

Disclosed herein are embodiments of a process which generally includes contacting i) a monomer or mixture of monomers, ii) a haloaluminate ionic liquid, and iii) one or more halide components in a reaction zone, and oligomerizing the monomer or mixture of monomers in the reaction zone to form an oligomer product. The combination of the haloaluminate ionic liquid and halide component can constitute a catalyst system which is used in embodiments of the process to produce the oligomer product.