Kinetic Study of Hydrogenolytic Demethylation of Toluene

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Abstract
The kinetics of toluene demethylation in the presence of added hydrogen has been studied at temperatures ranging from 580 to 650°C and at subatmospheric pressures using a static reactor with a circulating device. A homogeneous gas phase reaction to produce benzene and methane exclusively was observed with the rate proportional to the toluene concentration and to the one-half power of the hydrogen concentration. The energy of activation was estimated to be 43kcal/mol with the frequency factor of the order of 109 (mole/l)-1/2sec-1. The result is in conformity with that reported by Silsby and Sawyer under somewhat different reaction conditions observed in a conventional flow apparatus. Some possible roles of the added hydrogen, and hence the mechanism of the reaction are briefly discussed with special reference to the papers reported by Szwarc and Steacie et al. on the same reaction but with no added hydrogen.

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