Ethylenediamine Via The Amination of Monoethanolamine

US Patent 5952529 pertains to the composition of a catalyst and its use in a process for producing ethyleneamines from monoethanolamine (MEA) and ammonia-more specifically, for producing ethylenediamine (EDA). The objective is to produce EDA under practical operating conditions in significantly higher yield than can be obtained using commercial methodology that practices the same chemistry. The other products made by this chemistry include cyclic polyamines, acyclic polyamines, and hydroxylated acyclic polyamines.

The patent discloses a catalyst composition comprising nickel-cobalt-copperrhenium-boron supported on silica that is purported to result in a significantly higher EDA selectivity per reactor pass (+90 mol% based on MEA) compared to current practice (~70 mol%) under similar operating conditions and MEA conversion levels (~35%).