Patents
The present invention provides a process for preparation of 2-phenyl ethanol. More specifically, the present invention relates to a process for preparing 2-phenyl ethanol by catalytic transfer hydrogenation of styrene oxide, in the presence of a supported transition metal catalyst. The catalyst system comprises of a palladium supported on silica, alumina, clay or charcoal. In a process, complete conversion and almost complete selectivity (> 99.9 %) to 2-phenyl ethanol is obtained with high TON at milder reaction conditions and also avoids the use of molecular hydrogen, hazardous material such as diethyl ether, ethylene oxide, and AlCl3 of the conventional process. The reaction is carried out in a temperature range of 30-80°C under stirring conditions. After completion of the reaction, the reaction mixture is cooled and the catalyst is separated from the product by conventional methods like filtration.