The catalytic hydrodesulfurization of thiophenes. VIII. Benzothiophene and 2,3-dihydrobenzothiophene

The hydrodesulfurization of benzothiophene (BT) and 2,3-dihydrobenzothiophene (DHBT) has been examined over a commercial cobalt molybdate on alumina and over an unsupported MoS2 catalyst promoted with Co. The results, in particular the appearance of styrene among the products, support cleavage of the hetero-ring in BT as the initial step in the reaction sequence under our low-pressure conditions. Ethylbenzene is the predominant product from both BT and DHBT, although increasingly significant amounts of DHBT are dehydrogenated to BT with rising temperature.