Most of the detergents in use today are derived from precursor petrochemicals. The currently predominant precursors is linear alkyl benzene (LAB), which is commonly produced by the alkylation of benzene with a long chain linear olefin. The subject invention is directed to the production of monomethyl acyclic olefins and paraffins, which may be recovered as a product in their own right, or used in the production of various petrochemicals as through alkylation or oxygenation. The following description of the invention will mainly address the recovery and use of the monomethyl hydrocarbons in the production of detergent precursor petrochemicals, and in particular the production of alkylbenzene derived detergents.
Several quality characteristics of alkylbenzenesulfonate (ABS) detergents are set by the chemical structure of the alkyl side chain. For instance, linear alkyl groups have the advantage of increased biodegradability. Other characteristics of the detergent such as its effectiveness in hard water and its foaming tendency are also influenced by the structure of the side chain and its constituents. It has recently been determined that highly desirable detergent precursors can be formed from olefins which contain a single methyl side chain on the main alkane chain. This is a departure from the previous preference for straight chain alkanes. The subject invention is specifically directed to the production of monomethyl hydrocarbons for use in the subsequent production of these detergent precursors or ingredients.