Ethylbenzene alternate technology

Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene was first commercialized for ethylbenzene and cumene in the 1940s. Aluminum chloride is the Friedel-Crafts catalyst, and the process is operated in the liquid phase. Several alternatives to aluminum chloride technology were developed later, but zeolitic catalysts are a rather recent introduction. UOP began using zeolitic catalysts in the 1990s. 

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