Method for making catalyst compositions of alkali metal halide-doped bivalent metal fluorides and process for making fluorinated olefins

1. A method for making a catalyst composition, comprising:

(a) adding an amount of hydroxide, oxide, or carbonate of an alkali metal to an aqueous solution of a hydrogen halide and reacting to form an aqueous solution of an alkali metal halide;

(b) adding an amount of a hydroxide, oxide, or carbonate of a bivalent metal to an aqueous solution of hydrogen fluoride and reacting to form a precipitate of a bivalent metal fluoride;

(c) admixing the alkali metal halide solution and the bivalent metal fluoride precipitate to form an aqueous slurry; and

(d) removing water from the aqueous slurry to form a solid mass, wherein the alkali metal halide is represented by the formula MX; M is an alkali metal ion selected from the group consisting of Li + , Na + , K + , Rb + , and Cs + ; X is a halogen ion selected from the group consisting of F − , Cl − , Br − , and I − ; the bivalent metal fluoride is represented by the formula M′F 2 ; and M′ is a bivalent metal ion.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the water is removed by driving off a portion of the water from the slurry to form a paste following by drying or evaporation of the paste to form the solid mass.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising calcining the solid mass to form a calcined mass.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising grinding the calcined mass to form a powder.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising pelletizing the powder to form pellets.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the calcination is carried out at a temperature of about 100° C. to about 750° C.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the calcination is carried out at a temperature of about 200° C. to about 600° C.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein M′ is selected from the group consisting of Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , Sr + , Ba 2+ , Ni 2+ , Fe 2+ , Co 2+ , Cu 2+ , and Zn 2+ .

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alkali metal halide is from about 0.05 wt % to about 50 wt % of the catalyst composition based on the total weight of the catalyst composition.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alkali metal halide is from about 5 wt % to about 15 wt % of the catalyst composition based on the total weight of the catalyst composition.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alkali metal halide is from about 7.5 wt % to about 12.5 wt % of the catalyst composition based on the total weight of the catalyst composition.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the calcination is carried out at a temperature of about 300° C. to about 600° C.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein M is selected from the group consisting of potassium and cesium, wherein X is selected from the group consisting of F − and Cl − , and wherein M′ is selected from the group consisting of Mg 2+ and Ni 2+ .

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein M is cesium, X is Cl − or F − and M′ is Mg 2+ .