Producing alumina having a majority of pore diameters of 35-80A

Claim 1

In a method for producing alumina having the properties: a surface area from about 250 to about 500 m 2 /g, a loose bulk density from about 10 to about 30 lb/ft 3 , a pore volume of 0-10,000 A from about 0.6 to about 2.5 cc/g and a pore volume from 0-1,000 A of at least 0.6 cc/g, said method consisting essentially of: a. hydrolyzing aluminum alkoxides, wherein the alkoxy groups contain an average of from 4 to 20 carbon atoms each, with water to produce an aqueous alumina slurry and alcohols containing from 4 to 20 carbon atoms; b. separating said aqueous alumina slurry from said alcohols; c. mixing said aqueous alumina slurry with an organic solvent selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, butanol, isobutanol, and tertiary butanol in an amount sufficient to produce said alumina having said properties upon drying; and, d. drying to produce alumina having said properties, the improvement comprising: e. reacting said aluminum alkoxides of (a) wherein the alkoxy groups contain from 4 to 20 carbon atoms each, with a stoichiometric excess of methanol to form aluminum methoxide and alcohols containing from 4 to 20 carbon atoms; f. separating said aluminum methoxide and said alcohols; g. reacting said aluminum methoxide with a stoichiometric excess of water to form alumina and methanol; h. separating said alumina containing a minor portion of said methanol and water from a major portion of said methanol and water; and thereafter mixing as in step (c) and drying as in step (d) to produce an improved alumina having said properties and a pore volume distribution wherein 70 to 95 percent of said pore volume from 0-1,000 A consists of pores having a diameter in the range of 35-80 A.