New process for hydrogenating aromatic hydrocarbons on sulfur resistant catalysts

Claim 1

In a process for hydrogenating an aromatic hydrocarbon containing sulfur compounds as impurities, wherein said aromatic hydrocarbon and hydrogen and contacted with a catalyst consisting essentially of (a) a noble metal selected from the group consisting of platinum, iridium, rhodium and ruthenium, (b) an alumina carrier, and (c) fluorine or chlorine, wherein the improvement comprises using as said catalyst a catalyst manufactured by a process comprising the essential steps of (1) reacting a compound of a noble metal selected from the group consisting of platinum, iridium, rhodium and ruthenium with a reducing agent of the formula Al Xy R 3-y , wherein y is 1, 1.5 or 2, X is fluorine or chlorine and R is a monovalent hydrocarbon radical, in an organic solvent, the atomic ratio of the noble metal to the aluminum being from 0.5 to 20, thereby producing a catalyst solution, impregnating an alumina carrier with said catalyst solution in a sufficient amount to provide the catalyst with 0.05-3% by weight of said noble metal based on the carrier, and 0.5-15% by weight of chlorine or fluorine, whereby said catalyst is resistant to sulfur poisoning as compared to a catalyst having no chlorine or fluorine.