[BUTZ, Thomas, JUNICKE, Henrik] DE,67056 Ludwigshafen,;

[JUNICKE HENRIK, URTEL HEIKO] DE The invention relates to an inert material for use in exothermic reactions, comprising &agr;-Al2O3 in the form of hollow cylinders or annular tablets. The invention furthermore relates to a process for the preparation of such inert materials and the use thereof in exothermic gas-phase reactions.

[Sylvia Huber-Dirr, Michael Hesse, Andrea Haunert, Henrik Junicke] DE Ludwigshafen A process for hydrogenating an organic compound which has at least one carbonyl group, in which the organic compound is brought into contact in the presence of hydrogen with a shaped article which can be produced in a process in which (i) an oxidic material comprising copper oxide, aluminum oxide and at least one of the oxides of lanthanum, tungsten, molybdenum, titanium or zirconium is prepared, (ii) powdered metallic copper, copper flakes, powdered cement, graphite or a mixture thereof is added to the oxidic material, and (iii) the mixture resulting from (ii) is shaped to a shaped article.

[DOMKE IMME, ROHDE WOLFGANG, RIEGER REINHOLD, MICHAILOVSKI ALEXEJ, LOSCH DENNIS, DEUERLEIN STEPHAN, SHISHKOV IGOR, BLACKWOOD DAVID F, JUNICKE HENRIK, BOZICH FRANK] DE;US

[BUTZ THOMAS, JUNICKE HENRIK] DE

[JUNICKE, Henrik, URTEL, Heiko] 67056 Ludwigshafen;Friedrichsplatz 8 68165 Mannheim;Mollstrasse 49a 68165 Mannheim The invention relates to an inert material for use in exothermic reactions, which contains a-Al2O3 in the form of hollow cylinders or annular pellets. Said invention also relates to a method for producing such inert materials and to the use thereof in exothermic reactions.

[BENDER MICHAEL, ZEHNER PETER, MACHHAMMER OTTO, MUELLER ULRICH, HARTH KLAUS, SCHINDLER GOETZ-PETER, JUNICKE HENRIK] DE

[Markus Rosch, Rolf Pinkos, Michael Hesse, Stephan Schlitter, Henrik Junicke, Olga Schubert, Alexander Weck, Gunther Windecker] DE LUDWIGSHAFEN The present invention provides a process for variably preparing mixtures of optionally alkyl-substituted BDO, GBL and THF by two-stage hydrogenation in the gas phase of C4 dicarboxylic acids and/or derivatives thereof, which comprises a) in a first step in the gas phase, hydrogenating a gas stream of C4 dicarboxylic acids and/or derivatives thereof over a catalyst at a pressure of from 2 to 100 bar and a temperature of from 200° C. to 300° C. in a first reactor in the presence of a catalyst in the form of shaped catalyst bodies having a volume of less than 20 mm3, said catalyst from 5 to 95% by weight of oxide of copper and from 5 to 95% by weight of an oxide having acidic sites, to give a stream mainly containing of optionally alkyl-substituted GBL and THF, b) removing any succinic anhydride formed by partial condensation, c) converting the products remaining predominantly in the gas phase in the partial condensation, THF, water and GBL, under the same pressure or under a pressure reduced by the pressure drops in the hydrogenation circuit and at a temperature of from 150 to 240° C., in a second reactor over a catalyst which ≦95% by weight of CuO and from 5 to 95% by weight of one or more oxides selected from the group of ZnO, Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2, ZrO2, CeO2, MgO, CaO, SrO, BaO, La2O3 and Mn2O3 to give a stream comprising a mixture of BDO, GBL and THF, d) removing the hydrogen from the products and recycling it into the hydrogenation, e) distillatively separating the products, THF, BDO, GBL and water, if appropriate recycling a GBL-rich stream into the second reactor or if appropriate discharging it, and working up BDO, THF and GBL distillatively, and setting the ratio of the products, THF, GBL and BDO, relative to one another within the range from 10 to 100% by weight of THF, from 0 to 90% by weight of GBL and from 0 to 90% by weight of BDO only by varying the temperatures in the two hydrogenation zones and also if appropriate the GBL recycle stream.

[BENDER MICHAEL, ZEHNER PETER, MACHHAMMER OTTO, MUELLER ULRICH, HARTH KLAUS, SCHINDLER GOETZ-PETER, JUNICKE HENRIK] DE The present invention relates to an integrated process for the synthesis of propylene oxide, which comprises at least the following steps: (i) dehydrogenation of propane to give a substream T( 0 ) comprising at least propane, propene and hydrogen; (ii) fractionation of the substream T( 0 ) to give at least one gaseous hydrogen-rich substream T( 2 ) and a substream T( 1 ) comprising at least propene and propane; (iii) synthesis of hydrogen peroxide using the substream T( 2 ), giving a substream T ( 4 ) which is rich in hydrogen peroxide and a gaseous substream T( 6 ); (iv) fractionation of the substream T( 1 ) to give at least one propane-rich substream T( 5 ) and at least one propene-rich substream T( 3 ); (v) reaction of the at least one substream T( 3 ) with substream T( 4 ) to give propylene oxide.

[HUBER-DIRR, Sylvia, HESSE, Michael, HAUNERT, Andrea, JUNICKE, Henrik] 67056 Ludwigshafen;Jungenheimer Strasse 12g 64673 Zwingenberg;Weinbietstrasse 10 67549 Worms;Windeckstrasse 103-105 68163 Mannheim;Friedrichsplatz 8 68165 Mannheim Disclosed is a method for hydrating an organic compound comprising at least one carbonyl group, according to which the organic compound is brought into contact with a molded body in the presence of hydrogen. Said molded body can be produced according to a method in which (i) an oxidic material comprising copper oxide, aluminum oxide, and at least one of the oxides of lanthanum, tungsten, molybdenum, titanium, or zirconium is provided, (ii) metallic copper powder, laminated copper, cement powder, graphite, or a mixture thereof is added to the oxidic material, and (iii) the mixture resulting from step (ii) is shaped into a molded body.