Research progress in alkylation reaction of benzene with long chain alkenes

The progress in alkylation reaction of benzene with long chain alkenes was introduced from the two aspects of catalyst research and reaction technology. Catalyst is a key factor for the alkylation reaction technology. Properties of catalysts such as fluorinated silica-alumina, molecular sieve, heteropolyacid and ionic liquid were evaluated. As to reaction technology, the UOP process is more competitive than the chlorination process and the hydrogen chloride stripping process and several improvements in the UOP process were reviewed. It was pointed out that further studies should be focused on new catalysts such as heteropolyacid, as well as reaction distillation technologies including the suspension-bed catalytic distillation (SCD) process.