Abstract: The process of preparing methyl isobutyl carbinol by catalytic hydrogenation of mesityl oxide in gas phase over Mn-modified Cu-Zn-Al catalyst was studied. The influence of catalyst compositions and the reaction conditions on the conversion of mesityl oxide and the selectivity to methyl isobutyl carbinol was investigated. The Cu-Zn-Al-Mn catalysts were characterized by XRD, TPR and BET method. Results showed that under the optimum conditions of using a catalyst with Mn mass fraction of 5% and Cu/Zn molar ratio of 1.2, a reaction temperature of 160℃, a H2/mesityl oxide molar ratio of 3.5 and mesityl oxide feeding rate of 90.0 mL/h, the conversion of mesityl oxide reached 99.4% and the selectivity to methyl isobutyl carbinol was 96.6%.

Key words: mesityl oxide, gas phase, hydrogenation, methyl isobutyl carbinol