Copper aluminum borate

Claim 2

Crystalline copper aluminum borate having the significant x-ray diffraction lines set forth in Table A, a surface area of at least 5 square meters per gram and a pore volume of at least 0.04 cc per gram which is at least partially reducible with hydrogen under Temperature Programmed Reduction at a temperature no more than 350° C. to a composition comprising zero valent copper and Al 4 B 2 O 9 .

Claim 3

The copper aluminum borate of claim 1 having the structure Cu 2-X Al 6-y B 4 O 17 M m M' n M" y , wherein M is a divalent metal, M' is a monovalent metal, m ranges from 0 to 0.8, n ranges from 0 to 1.6, X ranges from 0 to 0.8 and is equal to the sum of m+n/2, M" is a trivalent metal and y ranges from 0 to 1.2.

Claim 4

The copper aIuminum borate of claim 2 wherein m, n, y and X are 0.

Claim 5

Crystalline copper aluminum borate having the significant x-ray diffraction lines set forth in Table A, a surface area of at least 5 square meters per gram and a pore volume of at least 0.04 cc per gram, which is at least partially reducible with hydrogen under Temperature Programmed Reduction at a temperature no more than 350° C. to a composition comprising zero valent copper and Al 4 B 2 O 9 wherein said copper aluminum borate has the structure Cu 2-x AlB 4 O 17 M x wherein m is a divalent metal selected from the group consisting of zinc, cobalt, nickel and magnesium and X is a number ranging from 0.01 to 0.8.

Claim 6

Crystalline copper aluminum borate having the significant x-ray diffraction lines set forth in Table A, a surface area of at least 5 square meters per gram and a pore volume of at least 0.04 cc per gram, which is at least partially reducible with hydrogen under Temperature Programmed Reduction at a temperature no more than 350° C. to a composition comprising zero valent copper and Al 4 B 2 O 9 wherein said copper aluminum borate has the structure Cu 2-x AlB 4 O 17 M x wherein m is a divalent metal selected from the group consisting of zinc, cobalt, nickel and magnesium and X is a number ranging from 0.01 to 0.8.

Claim 7

The copper aluminum borate of claim 4 wherein X is a number from 0.05 to 0.50.

Claim 8

The copper aluminum borate of claim 5 wherein M is zinc.

Claim 9

The copper aluminum borate of claim 5 wherein M is cobalt.

Claim 10

The copper aluminum borate of claim 5 wherein M is nickel.

Claim 11

The copper aluminum borate of claim 5 wherein M is magnesium.

Claim 12

A composition comprising crystalline copper aluminum borate of claim 1 and Al 4 B 2 O 9 .

Claim 13

A composition comprising crystalline copper aluminum borate of claim 1 and copper chromite.

Claim 14

The process of preparing copper aluminum borate which comprises (1) combining a source of divalent copper, trivalent aluminum and boron in the form of the oxide or borate, (2) drying the composition and (3) calcining the composition at a temperature sufficiently high to form a crystalline copper aluminum borate having the significant x-ray diffraction lines set forth in Table A wherein the composition of step (1) comprises at least one volatile component.

Claim 15

The process of preparing copper aluminum borate which comprises (1) combining a source of divalent copper, trivalent aluminum and boron in the form of the oxide or borate, (2) drying the composition and (3) calcining the composition at a temperature sufficiently high to form a crystalline copper aluminum borate having the significant x-ray diffraction lines set forth in Table A wherein the composition of step (1) comprises at least one volatile component.

Claim 16

The process of claim 12 wherein step 1 is carried out in an aqueous medium.

Claim 17

The process of claim 13 wherein step 1 is carried out in the presence of aqueous ammonia or aqueous ammonium salt.

Claim 18

The process of producing copper aluminum borate which comprises (1) combining a source of divalent copper, trivalent aluminum and boron in the form of the oxide or borate in an aqueous medium, (2) drying the composition to remove water and (3) calcining the composition at a temperature sufficiently high to form crystalline copper aluminum borate having the significant x-ray diffraction lines set forth in Table A.

Claim 19

The process of producing copper aluminum borate which comprises (1) combining a source of divalent copper, trivalent aluminum and boron in the form of the oxide or borate in an aqueous medium, (2) drying the composition to remove water and (3) calcining the composition at a temperature sufficiently high to form crystalline copper aluminum borate having the significant x-ray diffraction lines set forth in Table A.

Claim 20

The process of claim 15 wherein step 1 is carried out in the presence of aqueous ammonia or aqueous ammonia salt.

Claim 21

The process of claim 16 wherein calcination is carried out at a temperature of at least 700° C.

Claim 22

The process of claim 16, wherein calcination is carried out at a temperature of at least 800° C.

Claim 23

A composition comprising finely divided zero valent copper on a support comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of Al 4 B 2 O 9 and copper aluminum borate formed by the reduction of the crystalline copper aluminum borate of claim 1.

Claim 24

The process of producing a composition comprising finely divided zero valent copper on a support comprising at least one member from the group consisting of Al 4 B 2 O 9 and crystalline copper aluminum borate which comprises contacting the crystalline copper aluminum borate of claim 1 with a reducing agent.

Claim 25

The process of claim 20 wherein the copper aluminum borate is contacted with a reducing agent at a temperature of at least 175° C.

Claim 26

The process of claim 20 wherein the reducing agent comprises carbon monoxide.

Claim 27

The process of claim 20 wherein the reducing agent comprises hydrogen.