An alkylbenzene is alkylated with an alkene, in the presence of a sodium/potassium alloy catalyst, on a saturated carbon atom which is alpha to the ring at temperatures which are lower than the temperatures used in a current commercial process. In a pre-alkylation reaction, the catalyst is reacted with a compound which has a saturated carbon atom alpha to a double bond in order to form a catalytic species. Higher amounts of catalyst are used in the pre-alkylation reaction than in the analogous reaction of the current commercial process. Following alkylation, the phase which contains the alkylation product is separated from the phase which contains the catalytic species. The process produces less isomeric and other soluble byproducts, and enables the efficacious production of longer chain alkylbenzenes without the formation of insoluble tars characteristic of the current commercial process.