WO2000018710A1

WO2000018710A1 - Isomerization of olefins

Info

Publication number: WO2000018710A1
Application number: PCT/US1999/022324
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert S. Smith; Jos P. Wristers
Original assignee: Exxon Chemical Patents Inc.
Priority date: 1998-09-29
Filing date: 1999-09-27
Publication date: 2000-04-06
Also published as: US6075175A; US6281162B1; AU6401699A

Abstract

A process for catalytically isomerizing olefins, particularly for isomerizing alkenyl bridged ring compounds to the corresponding alkylidene bridged ring compounds, in which the catalyst is prepared by forming a dispersion of a metallic alkali metal on a support with simultaneous exposure to oxygen.

Description

ISOMERIZATION OF OLEFINS Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a process for cataiyticaliy isomerizing ole- fins, particularly for isomerizing alkenyl bridged ring compounds to the corre-

sponding alkylidene bridged ring compound. Background of the Invention

Olefins often are isomerized to produce different olefins, having different

double bond positions, different structures, or both, as maybe necessary for a chemical synthesis or for a process for making fuels or fuel additives. For instance, 5-ethylidene-2-norbornene ("ENB") is used as a monomer in the production of rubbery polymers. ENB is produced most conveniently by cataiyticaliy isomerizing 5-vinyl-2-norbornene ("VNB"). VNB is produced by reacting 1,3 -butadiene (BD) with cyclopentadiene (CPD) in an addition reaction commonly known as a Diels-

Alder reaction. Olefin isomerization catalysts include liquid bases, such as mixtures of alkali metal hydroxides and aprotic organic solvents, mixtures of alkali metal amides and

amines, and mixtures of organic alkali metal compounds and aliphatic amines. Unfortunately, the catalytic activities of the liquid bases are relatively low, and therefore large amounts of these relatively expensive catalysts must be used. In addition, recovery of the catalyst from the olefin isomerization reaction mixture is

very difficult ~ requiring complicated separation and recovery steps, producing a substantial amount of waste that must be disposed of, and consuming a large amount of energy. Examples of solid olefin isomerization catalysts are alkali metals supported on high surface area anhydrous supports such as activated carbon, silica gel, alumina and the like. These solid catalysts are difficult to handle because they may ignite and lose activity on contact with oxygen. Also, the isomerization perform- ance of these catalysts is generally poor — both conversion of the feed and selec¬

tivity to the desired product are low.

Solid catalysts tend to be either pyrophoric or lacking in desirably high ac¬

tivity. Many of the more active solid catalysts must be separately activated or stabilized in the presence an oxygen containing gas after the catalyst is synthesized. Isomerization catalysts are needed which do not require separate activation and which also are more resistant to reactive poisons in the olefin feed.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides a process for cataiyticaliy isomerizing a stream comprising an olefin feedstock, said process comprising: contacting said stream with a catalyst under first conditions effective to isomerize said olefin feedstock to produce a product, wherein said catalyst is prepared by a method com¬

prising: providing a dried support; thermally mixing a metallic alkali metal with said

dried support under second conditions effective to produce a mixture comprising a dispersion of said alkali metal on said dried support, wherein said alkali metal has a given melting point and said second conditions comprise a temperature higher than

said given melting point and substantially simultaneous exposure to a gas comprising in the range of from 0.001 vol% to 10 vol% of oxygen and a remainder of inert

gases to provide a cumulative total amount of said oxygen in said gas at a molar ratio to said metallic alkali metal in the range of from 0.05-to-1.0 (0.05/1.0) to 1.0- to-1.0 (1.0/1.0); and recovering said product. Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention provides a new method of making selective and effi- cient catalysts for a process of catalytic isomerization of olefins. The catalyst of the present invention does not require a separate activation step with an oxygen containing gas to achieve a high activity. In addition, the catalyst is more resistant to poisons that are present in the olefin feedstock. The catalyst of the present invention is prepared by thermally mixing a substantially dried support with an alkali metal at a temperature higher than the melting point of the selected alkali metal to achieve substantially uniform dispersion of the alkali metal on the dried support, and substantially simultaneously exposing the dried support and the alkali metal being thermally mixed to a gas mixture comprising oxygen or other active oxygen containing compounds. Various aspects of the process are discussed separately below.

A. Catalyst Preparation

The catalyst comprises a metallic alkali metal and a dried support material. An "alkali metal" suitable for preparation of the isomerization catalyst is selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and mixtures or alloys thereof. Alloys containing elements other than Group I A of the Periodic Table of the Elements also may be used, but additional steps may be required to remove the other elements chemically or physically before the catalysts can be used for isomerizing olefins. Preferably, an alkali metal useful for preparing the catalyst of the present invention consists essentially of the metal in its elemental (metallic) state. For example, if sodium is the desired metal, substantially pure metallic sodium should be used. A sodium source having a substantial amount of sodium hydroxide (about > 15wt%) would not be suitable. Sodium, potassium, and

mixtures thereof are examples of preferred alkali metals. A more preferred alkali metal consists essentially of metallic sodium. While all of the pure alkali metals are solids at room temperature (about 25°C), some of the intermetallic alloys made of pure alkali metals are liquids at ambient conditions. These alloys or mixtures may be used for preparing the catalysts of the present invention at or below room tem-

perature (about 25°C).

A number of materials may be used as the support. The terms "support material" and "support" are used interchangeably herein. Some of the preferred characteristics of a support include, but are not necessarily limited to: a high surface area; inertness to the alkali metal selected; amenability to being dried to a sub- stantially dried state or form; and sufficient physical strength and chemical integrity

under catalyst preparation conditions to remain intact and, under olefin isomeriza¬

tion conditions, to remain active and selective. For example, oxides and/or hy¬

droxides of metals of Groups 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, and 4B of the Periodic Table of the Elements may be used as a support material. Specific examples of a suitable support material for making the isomerization catalyst of the present invention include, but are not necessarily limited to, carbon, graphite, talc, clays, diatomaceous earths, magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, strontium oxide, barium oxide, aluminum oxide, gallium oxide, silicon oxide, silicoalumino oxide, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, hafnium oxide, Celite, and rare earth oxides such as yttrium oxide and lanthanum oxide. In addition, molecular sieves such as zeolites also may be suitable supports for the present invention.

While crystalline forms of many such materials are generally stable, amorphous forms also may be used. Amorphous silica-aluminas are examples of such amorphous solids which, like their crystalline counterparts, may be used as supports. Many compounds may have more than one crystalline form or structure.

These various crystalline forms, structures, or their mixtures may be used, provided that they possess the desired physical and chemical properties. For instance, if tita- nium oxide (also called titania) is the support of choice, then anatase, rutile, or mixtures thereof may be used. Similarly, aluminum oxide may take a variety of crystal structures - alpha, gamma, eta, theta, etc. Pure alpha alumina is not a suitable support material because its surface area generally is too low to produce a catalyst with a desirably high activity. In general, the support should have a surface area of at least 50 m²/g, preferably, at least 100 m²/g, more preferably, at least 140 m²/g. Aluminas with sur¬

face areas greater than 140 m²/g are most preferred supports. Structurally, the

aluminas may be amorphous, gamma, eta, theta, or mixtures thereof. A preferred alumina is prepared from calcining a pseudoboehmite alumina precursor having a

surface area of 240m²/g or higher at 600°C.

A suitable support should be in a "substantially dried" or "dried" state or form before it is mixed with the metallic alkali metal. The terms "substantially dried" and "dried" are used interchangeably herein and mean that substantially all absorbed, adsorbed, and readily produced/generated water in or from the support under catalyst preparation conditions has been removed during the drying process. Depending on the starting materials and drying conditions, there may be both chemical and/or physical transformations, in addition to water removal. For in-

stance, a starting material pseudoboehmite may be converted under the drying conditions to a dried gamma alumina. A gamma alumina obtained from aluminum sources other than pseudoboehmite also may be dried under a different set of conditions to produce the same or a different dried gamma alumina support.

Different starting materials or supports may require different ways and/or different conditions to achieve the substantially dried or dried state or form. Many methods may be used to achieve this purpose. Preferably, the support is subjected to an elevated temperature in a substantially water-free atmosphere or under vacuum. The drying is conducted at atmospheric pressure or higher, with reduced

pressure (partial vacuum) being preferred. Drying typically is effected by heating the support material (a) at a temperature in the range of from 100°C to 1000°C, preferably in the range from 120°C to 800°C, and more preferably in the range of

from 200°C to 400°C, and (b) a period in the range of from 0.05 to 200 hours,

preferably in the range of from 0J to 100 hours, more preferably in the range of from 1 to 20 hours. A drying temperature lower than 100°C may be used, particu- larly under partial vacuum. At a lower drying temperature, a longer drying time

may be needed to achieve a desirable dried state.

While many gases, including air or oxygen-containing gases, may be used in

the atmosphere during drying, it is preferable, more convenient, and more cost ef- fective to use gases to which the alkali metal used is inert or with which the alkali metal does not react significantly. The gas should be dry and preferably oil and CO₂ free. Preferably, an inert gas is purged through the drying vessel to sweep away any water or oxygen molecules which may be driven off from the support material by heat. Such inert gases include, but are not necessarily limited to, nitrogen, argon, helium, and mixtures thereof. Light alkanes such as methane, ethane, and propane also can be used as the atmosphere for drying the support, but light alkanes must be purged out of the system before the alkali metal is thermally mixed with the support material in the presence of an oxygen containing atmosphere. The drying process also is conducted under conditions which do not substantially or significantly alter the desired physical and chemical characteristics of the support material. For instance, drying at a temperature below 400°C for less than 20 hours will not significantly change the surface area of an alumina prepared from a pseudoboehmite precursor. However, drying the same alumina at a tem- perature above 500°C may result in a substantial and adverse decrease in surface area after 20 hours. Prolonged drying of crystalline supports at very high tem¬

perature also may destroy the crystallinity and change the support into an amor¬

phous form.

After drying, the support material preferably is kept under a dry and inert atmosphere so that moisture (water) or any other compounds that can react with

the alkali metal will not react with, be re-adsorbed by, or otherwise be associated with the dried support material. Nitrogen is a preferred inert gas for this purpose. A vacuum environment also is suitable for most supports to maintain the dried state.

In order to prepare a suitable catalyst, a substantially dried support as described above is provided and thermally mixed with from 1 wt% to 40 wt% of an alkali metal (on the basis of the weight of the dried support). The mixing occurs at an elevated temperature and substantially simultaneously the mixture is exposed to a gas comprising in the range of from 0.001 vol% to 10 vol% of oxygen or other active oxygen containing compounds, with the remainder of the gas mixture comprising an inert gas or gases. Other active oxygen containing compounds include, but are not necessarily limited to singlet oxygen, ozone (O₃), N₂O, NO, and mixtures thereof. Oxygen is a preferred gas.

An elevated temperature means a temperature higher than the melting point or the highest melting point, if there is more than a single melting point, of the alkali metal, the alkali metal alloy, or the alkali metal mixture selected for a particular catalyst. During the catalyst preparation procedure, the elevated temperature should be sufficiently high to provide a fully melted and reasonably free flowing

alkali metal to ensure a uniform or substantially uniform dispersion of the alkali

metal on the support. The combination of an elevated temperature and mixing is herein referred to as thermal mixing. The contact between an alkali metal and a support material during thermal

mixing may be carried out in a fixed bed, a fluidized bed, a moving bed, a stirred tank, a continuously stirred tank, or any other suitable reactor configuration. The mixing or agitation may be provided or achieved by mechanically or magnetically driven stirring and agitation or the motion and movement created in a fluidized bed. Other types of blending, mixing and agitation methods known in the art may be used as well.

The thermal mixing of the alkali metal with the support material and the si- multaneous exposure to an active oxygen containing gas mixture may be achieved by having the gas mixture flowing through the catalyst preparation vessel. In this flowing mode, the gas mixture may flow at a rate in the range of from 3 linear ft/hr to 100 linear ft/hr. The flowing gas mixture also may serve as a lifting gas in a fluidized bed system. The flow rates are measured at ambient conditions — about 25°C and one atmosphere pressure. Alternately, a static mode may be used. Other known methods of achieving contact between a gas and a solid also may be used. The amount of oxygen or other oxygen-containing compounds in the gas mixture is in the range of from 0.001 vol% to 10 vol%, preferably in the range of from 0.05 vol% to 7 vol%. The remainder of the gas mixture comprises an inert gas such as nitrogen, helium, argon, and mixtures thereof.

The amount of oxygen suitable or needed for preparing an active catalyst is

measured by the molar ratio (0_lNa) of (a) total oxygen flowing through the catalyst preparation vessel or exposed to the catalyst to (b) the alkali metal present on the catalyst support. A suitable molar ratio of total oxygen to alkali metal is in the range of from 0.005-to-l.O (0.005/1.0) to 2.0-to-l.O (2.0/1.0). A preferred molar

ratio of total oxygen to alkali metal is in the range of from 0.05-to-1.0 (0.05/1.0) to 1.0-to-l.O (1.0/1.0), more preferably in the range of from OJ-to-1.0 (0.1/1.0) to 0.5-to-1.0 (0.5/1.0). While a catalyst of good performance still may be obtained if too much oxygen or other active oxygen containing compounds are present, the preparation will not result in a catalyst with optimum performance. Similarly, if too little or no oxygen is used, optimum catalyst performance will not be obtained.

B. Isomerization of Olefins The catalysts described above are used to isomerize olefins according to the following general procedure.

As used herein, the term "isomerization of olefins" relates to the movement of an olefinic double bond from an initial position to a different position in the ole- finic feedstock molecule. The catalyst described herein may be used to isomerize any olefin with three or more carbon atoms. For instance, linear alpha olefins, such as 1-butene, 1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-heptene, and 1-octene, may be isomerized to yield internal olefins, including thermodynamically and kinetically accessible cis-, trans-, E-, and Z- isomers, such as 2-butene, 2-pentene, 2-hexene, 3-hexene, 2- heptene, 3-heptene, 2-octene, 3-octene, and 4-octene. Additionally, branched alpha olefins, such as 2-methyl-l-butene and 3 -methyl- 1-pentene, may be isomerized to the corresponding internal olefins, 2-methyl-2-butene and 3-methyl-2-butene,

respectively. Internal olefins and branched internal olefins also may be isomerized to any other thermodynamically and/or kinetically accessible isomers according to the invention. The catalyst of the present invention can be used to isomerize alkenyl bridged ring compounds, such as NNB, to alkylidene bridged ring compounds, such as ENB. Alkenyl bridged compounds have the general formula (I):

wherein R¹, R², and R³ are each hydrogen or an alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, R⁴ is hydrogen or an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and n is 1 or 2 and wherein a double bond may be present at the place between the 2- and 3- posi¬

tions as indicated by the dotted line.

Specific examples of suitable alkenyl bridged ring compounds include, but

are not necessarily limited to: 5-vinylbicyclo[2,2,l]heptane; 5-(l'- propenyl)bicyclo[2,2J]- heptane; 5-(l'-butenyl)bicyclo[2,2,l]heptane; 5-

isopropenylbicyclo[2,2, l]heptane; 5-(2'-methyl- -propenyl)bicyclo[2,2, l]heptane;

6-methyl-5-vinylbicyclo[2,2, l]heptane; 6-methyl-5-

isopropenylbicyclo[2,2, l]heptane; 6-ethyl-5-vinylbicyclo[2,2,l]heptane; 5-

vinylbicyclo [2,2,l]hepta-2-ene; 5-(l '-propenyl)-bicyclo[2,2,l]hepta-2-ene; 5-(l'-

butenyl)bicyclo [2,2,l]hepta-2-ene; 5-isopropenylbicyclo[2,2,l]hepta-2-ene; 5-(2'-

methyl-l-propenyl)bicyclo[2,2, l]hepta-2-ene; 5-(l'-octenyl)bicyclo[2,2, l]hepta-2-

ene; 6-methyl-5-vinylbicyclo[2,2,l]hepta-2-ene; 6-methyl-5-

isopropenylbicyclo[2,2, l]-hepta-2-ene; 6-ethyl-5-vinylbicyclo[2,2, l]hepta-2-ene; 5-

vinylbicyclo[2,2,l]octane; 5-(l'-propenyl)-bicyclo [2,2,2]octane; 5- isopropenylbicyclo[2,2,2]octane; 5-(l'-butenyl)bicyclo[2,2,2]-octane; 6-methyl-5- vinylbicyclo [2,2,2] octane; 6-methyl-5 -isopropenylbicyclo [2,2,2] -octane; 5-

vinylbicyclo[2,2,2]octane; 5-(l '-propenyl)bicyclo[2,2,2]octa-2-ene; 5-iso-

propenylbicyclo[2,2,2]octa-2-ene; 5-(l'-butenyl)bicyclo[2,2,2]octa-2-ene; 5-(2" -

methyl-l'-propenyl)bicyclo[2,2,2]octa-2-ene; 6-methyl-5-vinylbicyclo[2,2,2]octa- 2-ene; and 6-methyl-5-isopropenylbicyclo[2,2,2]octa-2-ene.

The compounds represented by formula I can be produced, for example, by subjecting a cyclic diene, such as cyclopentadiene, and an aliphatic 1,3-diene to a Diels- Alder reaction as described in Dienes in the Diels-Alder Reaction by F. Frin- guelli and A. Tatticchi, Wiley Intersciences, 1990. This reference is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference.

Isomerization of an alkenyl bridged ring compound shifts the olefinic double bond from the 1 '-2' position to the 5-1 ' position of formula I, thereby forming an alkylidene bridged ring compound. The isomerization is effected by contacting a stream of an alkenyl bridged ring compound, for example, a VNB stream, with the catalyst at an isomerization temperature in the range of from -50°C to 200°C.

A preferred temperature for isomerization is in the range of from 0°C to 150°C, more preferably temperature is in the range of from 10°C to 100°C. If the starting olefin isomerization reaction temperature is 50°C or higher, it is preferable that the

final reaction temperature be brought to lower than 30°C in order to achieve high

equilibrium conversions. In many cases, thermodynamic equilibrium at a lower temperature favors the desired product. The present invention is particularly useful in the production of ENB from VNB. The VNB stream to be isomerized may be 90% or more by volume of VNB, or the VNB stream may be diluted with a solvent that is inert during the isomerization process. Appropriate solvents include, but are not necessarily limited to, aliphatic compounds such as hexane, heptane, octane, and isooctane, and aromatic compounds such as benzene, toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene.

Although a feedstock of an alkenyl bridged ring compound can be obtained in high purity by distillation, it is more convenient and economically attractive to use a feedstock of lesser purity. However, many of the impurities remaining in the feedstock can react with strong base catalysts and act as catalyst poisons. Such poisons may reduce catalyst activity, catalyst life, and/or product selectivity. The catalysts of the present invention showed surprisingly high activity and good poison resistance.

Typical reactive impurities include acidic oxygenates and certain cyclic compounds containing at least two double bonds, or at least one double bond and

one triple bond. Some examples are: cyclopentadiene (CPD), dicyclopentadiene

(DCPD), methylcyclopentadiene (MCPD), dimethylcyclopentadiene (DMCPD), cyclopentadiene-methylcyclopentadiene dimer, cyclooctadiene (COD), indene, tet- rahydroindene (THI), vinylnorbornadiene (VNBD); ethynylnorbornene (EYNB); vinylcyclohexene (VCH); methylvinylcyclohexene (MVCH); and organic hydro-

peroxides. The invention will be better understood with reference to the following examples, which illustrate, but do not limit the invention, which is solely defined by the claims. EXAMPLE 1 A 30g gamma alumina sample with a surface area of 167m²/g and a 1.2 wt% loss-on-ignition (LOI) at 1150°C was dried at 400°C for one hour under nitrogen and cooled to room temperature under nitrogen. The dried alumina and 4.5g of metallic sodium which was cut into small pieces were placed under nitro¬

gen in a 300 ml round-bottomed flask equipped with a mechanically driven stir paddle. The dried alumina-sodium mixture was heated in the flask by a heating mantle from room temperature to a 150^CC skin temperature under nitrogen. When the metallic sodium started to melt, stirring by the mechanically driven paddle was started. The stirring continued for 2.5 hours at the 150°C temperature and then the mixture was cooled to room temperature (about 25°C). EXAMPLE 2

A 30g gamma alumina sample with a surface area of 167m²/g and a 1.2

wt% loss-on-ignition (LOI) at 1150°C was dried at 400°C for one hour under nitrogen and cooled to room temperature under nitrogen. The substantially dried alumina and 3.75g of metallic sodium in small pieces were placed under nitrogen in a 300 ml round-bottomed flask equipped with a mechanically driven stir paddle.

The dried alumina-sodium mixture was heated by a heating mantle from room temperature to 150°C skin temperature under nitrogen. When the metallic sodium started to melt, stirring by the mechanically driven paddle was started. The stirring continued for 2.5 hours at 150°C and then the mixture was cooled to room temperature (about 25°C). A 5 vol% O₂ in N₂ was introduced into and flowed through the reactor at a rate of 126 ml/min until the mole ratio of O₂ to Na reached

0.17 to 1. EXAMPLE 3

A 30g gamma alumina sample with a surface area of 167m²/g and a 1.2 wt% loss-on-ignition (LOI) at 1150°C was dried at 400°C for one hour under nitrogen and cooled to room temperature under nitrogen. The substantially dried alumina and 3.75g of metallic sodium in small pieces were placed under nitrogen in a 300 ml round-bottomed flask equipped with a mechanically driven stir paddle.

Simultaneously, a 5 vol% O₂ in N₂ was introduced into and flowed through the reactor at a rate of 6 1/hr while the mixture was heated to 150°C and stirred by the mechanically driven paddle. The flow of the 5 vol% O₂ in N₂ mixture continued during the next 90 minutes until a total mole ratio of O₂ to Na reached about 0J7 to l.

EXAMPLE 4

A 25 lb lot of the same gamma alumina as used in Example 1 was added to a cylindrical vessel. The alumina was fluidized with a 9 linear-ft/hr N₂ flow and stiπed with a cylindrical cage style mechanically driven turbine turning at about 20-

30 rpm. The alumina was heated to 400°C for one hour and then cooled to 150°C

to produce a substantially dried support.

Separately, 3.75 pounds of sodium metal were charged to a tank which was connected to the cylindrical vessel with a valve. The sodium was melted at 150°C under nitrogen. The molten sodium metal was stored in the tank under nitrogen and was added drop-wise through the valve in a period of one hour to the dried alumina which was fluidized with a 1 vol% O₂ in N₂ gas mixture and mechanically stirred at 150°C. After the sodium addition was completed, the mixture was maintained at 150°C with continuing fluidization with the same O₂ in N₂ gas mixture and stirring until the mole ratio of total oxygen to sodium added reached 0J7 to l. EXAMPLE 5

The activities of the catalysts for olefin isomerization were tested under ni- trogen by stirring the catalyst for two hours at room temperature (about 25°C) with 5-vinyl-2-norbornene (VNB) containing small amounts of various impurities. After the two hour reaction time, the reaction mixture was analyzed by gas chromatog- raphy to determine the VNB conversion. The catalysts from Examples 1, 2, and 3 were tested with a VNB feed containing 700 ppm of vinylnorbornadiene (Column A of the Table). The amount of catalyst used in these experiments was 1.4 wt%

based on the weight of VNB. The catalysts from Examples 2 and 3, both having been exposed to oxygen, were found to be more active than the catalyst from Example 1. The catalyst from Example 3, prepared according to the present inven¬

tion, was more active than the catalyst from Example 2 which involved treatment with oxygen containing gas after the sodium had been deposited on the support. The catalysts from Examples 2 and 4 were tested for their isomerization

activities with a VNB feed containing 3800 ppm indene (Column B of the Table).

The amount of catalyst used in these two experiments was 4.6 wt% based on the weight of VNB. The catalyst from Example 4, prepared according to the present invention, was found to be more active than the catalyst from Example 2 which involved treatment with oxygen containing gas after the sodium had been deposited on the support.

Table

VNB: 5-vinyl-2-norbornene

A: VNB feed contained 700 ppm vinylnorbornadiene

B: VNB feed contained 3800 ppm indene

What is claimed is:

Claims

lo

1 Claims:

l l. A process for cataiyticaliy isomerizing olefins, said process comprising

2 contacting a stream comprising an olefin feedstock with a catalyst under first con-

3 ditions effective to isomerize said olefin feedstock to produce a product, wherein

4 said catalyst is prepared by providing a dried support, mixing a metallic alkali metal

5 with said dried support under second conditions effective to produce a mixture

6 comprising a dispersion of said metallic alkali metal on said dried support, wherein

7 said metallic alkali metal has a given melting point and said second conditions

8 comprise a temperature higher than said given melting point and substantially si-

9 multaneous exposure to a gas mixture comprising from 0.001 vol% to 10 vol% of 0 oxygen and a remainder of inert gases to provide a total amount of said oxygen in 1 said gas mixture at a molar ratio to said metallic alkali metal from 0.05-to-1.0 to 2 1.0-to-l.O.

1 2. The process of claim 1 wherein said olefin feedstock comprises 5-vinyl-2-

2 norbornene and said product comprises 5-ethylidene-2-norbornene.

1 3. The process of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said metallic alkali metal is se-

2 lected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium,

3 and mixtures thereof.

1 4. The process of any one of the previous claims wherein said metallic alkali

2 metal is selected from the group consisting of sodium, potassium, and mixtures

3 thereof.

5. The process of any one of the previous claims wherein said metallic alkali is sodium.

6. The process of any one of the previous claims wherein said molar ratio is from 0J-to-1.0 to 0.5-to-1.0.

7. The process of any one of the previous claims wherein said exposure to a gas mixture comprises exposure in a flowing mode.

8. The process of any one of claims 1-6 wherein said exposure to a gas mix- ture comprises exposure in a static mode.

9. The process of any one of the previous claims wherein said dispersion is substantially uniform.

10. The process of any one of the previous claims wherein said feedstock fur- ther comprises one or more reactive impurities.

11. The process of claim 10 said one or more reactive impurities are selected from the group consisting of cyclopentadiene, di-cyclopentadiene, methylcyclo- pentadiene, di-methylcyclopentadiene, cyclopentadienemethylcyclopentadiene di-

mer, cyclooctadiene, vinylcyclohexene, methylvinylcyclohexene, vinylnorbornadi-

ene, ethylnylnorbornene, indene, tetrahydroindene, organic hydroperoxides, and mixtures thereof.

12. The process of any one of the previous claims wherein said dried support is alumina.

13. The process of any one of the previous claims wherein said dried support has a surface area of at least 140 m²/g.

14. The process of any one of the previous claims further comprising heating

said mixture in the presence of said gas mixture with mixing to a temperature higher than said melting point to produce a dispersion of said metallic alkali metal on said dried support.

15. A process for preparing an olefin isomerization catalyst comprising: providing a dried support; and thermally mixing a metallic alkali metal with said dried support under conditions effective to produce a mixture comprising a dispersion of said alkali metal on said dried support, wherein said alkali metal has a given melting point and said conditions comprise a temperature higher than said given melting point and substantially simultaneous exposure to a gas mixture comprising from 0.001 vol% to 10 vol%

of oxygen and a remainder of inert gases to provide of a total

amount of said oxygen in said gas mixture at a molar ratio to said metallic alkali metal from OJO-to-1.0 to 0.5-to-1.0.

16. The process of claim 15 wherein said dried support comprises alumina and said metallic alkali metal consists essentially of sodium.

17. The process of claim 15 or 16 wherein said exposure to a gas mixture com- prises exposure in a flowing mode.

18. The process of any one of the previous claims wherein said dried support has a surface area of at least 140 m²/g.