Process for hydration of olefins

Claim 2

An improved process for producing an alcohol by hydrating an olefin, wherein the improvement comprises hydrating an olefin in the presence of hydrogen-type mordenite or hydrogen-type zeolite Y as a catalyst each having a silica/alumina molar ratio of 20 to 500.

Claim 3

The process according to claim 1 in which the catalyst has a silica/alumina molar ratio in the range of 30 to 400.

Claim 4

The process according to claim 1 in which said hydrogen-type mordenite is obtained by dealkalization, acid extraction and steam treatment of mordenite.

Claim 5

The process according to claim 1 in which said hydrogen-type mordenite is obtained by acid extraction and steam treatment.

Claim 6

The process according to claim 1 in which said hydrogen-type mordenite exhibits the following X-ray diffraction pattern: ______________________________________ Lattice Lattice plane Relative plane Relative space d (Å) intensity space d (Å) intensity ______________________________________ 13.59 ± 0.2 S 4.51 ± 0.02 S 10.16 ± 0.2 S 3.97 ± 0.02 VS 9.15 ± 0.1 VS 3.46 ± 0.01 VS 6.55 ± 0.05 S 3.37 ± 0.01 S 5.80 ± 0.05 S 3.22 ± 0.01 S ______________________________________

Claim 7

The process according to claim 1 in which said hydrogen type zeolite Y is obtained by removing by extraction alkali metal or alkaline earth metal and aluminum from zeolite Y.

Claim 8

The process according to claim 6 in which the dealkalization and removal of aluminum are accomplished by bringing zeolite Y into contact with silicon tetrachloride.

Claim 9

The process according to claim 7 in which said hydrogen-type zeolite Y has a content of alkali metal or alkaline earth metal of 0.1 wt.% or less and the silica-alumina molar ratio is in the range of 30 to 400.

Claim 10

The process according to claim 1 in which said hydrogen-type zeolite Y exhibits the following X-ray diffraction pattern: ______________________________________ Lattice Lattice plane Relative plane Relative space d (Å) intensity space d (Å) intensity ______________________________________ 14.71 ± 0.2 VS 3.410 ± 0.07 W 8.83 ± 0.2 S 3.276 ± 0.07 S 7.43 ± 0.2 S 2.976 ± 0.07 W 5.71 ± 0.1 S 2.873 ± 0.07 M 4.71 ± 0.1 M 2.820 ± 0.07 S 4.33 ± 0.1 S 2.720 ± 0.05 W 3.86 ± 0.1 W 2.655 ± 0.05 W 3.734 ± 0.07 S 2.597 ± 0.05 M ______________________________________

Claim 11

The process according to claim 1 in which the olefin has from 2 to 12 carbon atoms.

Claim 12

The process according to claim 10 in which the olefin has from 2 to 8 carbon atoms.

Claim 13

The process according to claim 11 in which the olefin is aliphatic having from 2 to 6 carbon atoms, or is cyclohexene.

Claim 14

The process according to claim 1 in which isopropanol is produced from propylene or secbutanol is produced from 1-butene or 2-butene.

Claim 15

The process according to claim 12 in which the reaction temperature is in the range of 130° C. to 210° C.