Conversion of Ethane into Benzene on Re/ZSM-5

The reaction of ethane on pure and Re-containing ZSM-5 has been investigated at 773–973 K. Reaction products were analyzed using gas chromatography. ZSM-5 with Si/Al = 30 exhibited relatively high activity towards dehydrogenation, hydrogenolysis and aromatization of ethane above 773 K, whereas ZSM-5 with Si/Al = 280 showed very low activity. Deposition of 2% Re enhanced the conversion of ethane, the selectivity and the yield of benzene production even on the most effective ZSM-5. Further increase in the Re content did not lead to the improvement of the catalyst. The role of the Re is very likely the activation of ethane and the enhanced production of ethylene. ZSM-5 samples were found to be very active in the aromatization of ethylene, which was only slightly influenced by Re.     

Nitrous oxide as an oxidant for ethane oxydehydrogenation

Waste nitrous oxide was used as an oxidant for ethane oxydehydrogenation performed at the range of temperature from 350 to 450 °C over iron modified zeolite catalysts. Different zeolite matrices (zeolite ZSM-5 of different Si/Al ratio, H-Y, mordenite) modified with iron cations introduced into zeolite by means of ionic exchange were applied as catalysts for the reaction under study. Additionally, amorphous silica and alumina silica as well as silicalite of MFI structure were also used as a matrix for iron ions accommodation and they were tested for oxydehydrogenation reaction. It was found that only iron modified zeolites showed activity for reaction under study. Amorphous oxide supports and crystalline neutral silicalite modified with iron cations by means of impregnation were completely inactive for oxydehydrogenation reaction. The best catalytic performance was found on iron modified zeolites of MFI structure. The Si/Al ratio of the ZSM-5 matrix influenced the activity for ethane oxydehydrogenation reaction insignificantly. N₂O oxidant was partly utilized for ethane oxidation (towards ethene or carbon oxides), while some part of the oxidant was decomposed to nitrogen and oxygen. Performing the reaction at 450 °C resulted in a high ethene yield and complete N₂O removal.     

Catalytic cracking of tricyclo [5.2.1.0] decane over HZSM-5 molecular sieves

The catalytic cracking of a high density hydrocarbon fuel, tricyclo [5.2.1.0^2.6] decane (JP-10) over HZSM-5 molecular sieves with different Si/Al mole ratios of 25, 38, and 50 was investigated at the temperature range from 773 to 873 K. Compared with the thermal cracking and the catalytic cracking over ZSM-5, conversions of JP-10 from the catalytic cracking over HZSM-5 molecular sieves at the same temperature were evidently heightened. The predominant hydrocarbon products from the catalytic cracking, checked at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, were methane, ethane, ethene, propane and propylene in the gaseous phase and benzene, indene, naphthalene and their homologues in the liquid phase. The contents of ethane, propane and propene decrease with increasing Si/Al mole ratio of a catalyst while those of methane and ethene increase simultaneously with the increase of Si/Al mole ratio of HZSM-5. The contents of the main components in the liquid products produced on the catalyst surface at a given temperature also decreased with the increase of Si/Al mole ratio. To keep high yields of alkenes, the HZSM-5 catalyst with high Si/Al mole ratio could be chosen.     

Highly Selective Supported Alkali Chloride Catalysts for the Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Ethane

Binary, ternary and quaternary molten eutectic alkali chloride catalysts, supported on mildly redox active oxides, were investigated for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane. The influence of different support oxides, on the catalytic performance, as well as that of different anions (bromide vs. chloride) and cations in a chloride eutectic system were studied. Metal oxides which react with chlorides are not suitable and lead to substantial deactivation. Especially supports forming volatile chlorides induce irreversible chloride depletion. Bromides catalyze oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane with higher rates, but lower olefin selectivities, highlighting the similarities and differences of Cl^? and Br^? in the redox cycle. Two catalysts were identified having olefin selectivities up to 98 % at 70 % ethane conversion, which ranges among the highest selectivities reported for ethane ODH.     

The importance of heterogeneous and homogeneous reactions in oxidative coupling of methane over chloride promoted oxide catalysts

The formation of ethene from ethane and methane in a silica reactor has been studied both in the presence and in the absence of chloride-containing catalysts. Some homogeneous conversion of ethane to ethene occurs in the gas phase through direct dehydrogenation, oxidative dehydrogenation, and, when HCl is present, chlorine radical induced reactions. Methyl chloride is detected in the gas phase but has no influence on the conversion of ethane to ethene. It is shown that under typical catalytic conditions, when a chloride-modified catalyst is used, ethane is mostly produced in the catalyst bed.     

Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane on Pt–Sn impregnated monoliths

The oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane was studied over Pt–Sn impregnated monoliths at 1 bar, 600–900 °C and with different contents of oxygen, hydrogen and steam in the feed gas. As expected a decrease in oxygen in the feed led to a decrease in the conversion of ethane due to lower temperatures in the reactor. Adding steam to the feed showed no effect on the ethane conversion or the ethene selectivity. When the hydrogen/ethane ratio in the feed was varied from 0 to 0.5 at 700 and 850 °C, it resulted in a significant increase in the selectivity to ethene while the ethane conversion remained relatively unchanged. At 700 °C the selectivity increased from about 50% to 93% (carbon basis) with only a small decrease in the conversion of ethane. The results clearly show that both Pt and Sn have a catalytic effect. Pt caused the ethane conversion to rise and addition of Sn resulted in much better ethene selectivity. However, even though Sn alone showed some catalytic effect at lower temperatures, it cannot explain the great difference between the Pt and Pt–Sn catalysts. A reasonable assumption is therefore that there exist interactions between Pt and Sn that gives the Pt–Sn catalysts excellent properties for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane, in particular upon addition of hydrogen.     

Lithium-chloride-promoted sulfated zirconia catalysts for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane

The oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane over sulfated-zirconia-supported lithium chloride catalysts has been systematically investigated. The optimal experimental parameters were obtained. It is found that sulfation of zirconia increases the catalytic activity. 2–3.5 wt% lithium chloride on sulfated zirconia catalysts exhibit high catalytic activity for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane, with particularly high activity for ethene production. 70% selectivity to ethene at 98% ethane conversion, giving 68% ethene yield, is achieved over 3.5 wt% LiCl/SZ at 650°C.     

Hybrid zeolitic-mesostructured materials as supports of metallocene polymerization catalysts

The potential application of hybrid ZSM-5/Al-MCM-41 zeolitic-mesostructured materials as supports of metallocene polymerization catalysts has been investigated and compared with the behaviour of standard mesoporous Al-MCM-41 and microporous ZSM-5 samples. Hybrid zeolitic-mesostructured solids were prepared from zeolite seeds obtained with different Si/Al molar ratios (15, 30 and 60), which were assembled around cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) micelles to obtain hybrid materials having a combination of both zeolitic and mesostructured features. (nBuCp)₂ZrCl₂/MAO catalytic system was impregnated onto the above mentioned solid supports and tested in ethylene polymerization at 70 °C and 5 bar of ethylene pressure. Supports and heterogeneous catalysts were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms at 77 K, transmission electron microscopy, ²⁷Al-MAS-NMR, ICP-atomic emission spectroscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy.Catalysts supported over hybrid ZSM-5/Al-MCM-41 (Si/Al = 30-60) exhibited the best catalytic activity followed by those supported on Al-MCM-41 (Si/Al = 30-60). However, catalyst supported on ZSM-5 gave lower polymerization activity because of its microporous structure with narrower pores and lower textural properties than hybrid and mesoporous materials.Although higher acid site population shown by hybrid materials could contribute to the stabilization of the metallocene system on the support, in this case their better catalytic performance is mainly ascribed to the larger textural properties.     

Effect of Si/Al ratio on performance of Pt–Sn-based catalyst supported on ZSM-5 zeolite for n-butane conversion to light olefins

The performance of Pt–Sn-based catalyst, supported on ZSM-5 of different Si/Al ratios were investigated for simultaneous dehydrogenation and cracking of n-butane to produce light olefins. The catalysts were characterized by number of physio-chemical techniques including XRF, TEM, IR spectra, NH₃-TPD and O₂-pulse analysis. Increase in Si/Al ratio of zeolite support ZSM-5 significantly increased light olefin's selectivity, while feed conversion decreases due to lower acidity of support. The results indicated that both the n-butane cracking and dehydrogenation activity to light olefin's over Pt–Sn/ZSM-5 samples with increasing Si/Al ratios greatly enhanced catalytic performance. The catalysts were deactivated with time-on-stream due to the formation of carbon-containing deposits. A coke deposition was significantly related to catalyst activity, while at higher Si/Al ratio catalyst the coke precursors were depressed. These results suggested that the Pt–Sn/ZSM-5 catalyst of Si/Al ratio 300 is superior in achieving high total olefins selectivity (above 90 wt.%). The Pt–Sn/ZSM-5 also demonstrates resistance towards hydrothermal treatment, as analyzed through the three successive reaction-regeneration cycles.     

V–BaCO3 catalysts for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane

A new type of supported vanadium oxide catalyst V–BaCO₃, which consists of barium orthovanadate Ba₃(VO₄)₂ and BaCO₃ phases, has been used in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane. The catalyst with the ratio of V/Ba from 0.1 to 0.3 exhibited high catalytic activity for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane, with particularly high activity for ethene production.     

A Comparison of Catalytic Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Ethane Over Mixed V-Mg Oxides and Over Those Prepared via a Mesoporous V-Mg-O Pathway

The catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane was investigated in a fixed-bed tubular microreactor at 500, 550 and 600 °C and a space velocity of 35 027ml g^-1h^-1. Two kinds of V-Mg oxides catalysts containing various V/Mg atomic ratios were employed. One group of catalysts was prepared by the solid reaction between fine powders of vanadium pentoxide and magnesium nitrate and the other ones were obtained from mesostructured V-Mg-Os. For the former catalysts, it was found that the selectivity to ethene increased and the conversion of ethane passed through a maximum with increasing V/Mg atomic ratio. For the catalysts obtained from the mesoporous materials, an optimum V/Mg atomic ratio was found, for which the conversion of ethane and the selectivity to ethene were maxima. Compared with the mixed-oxide catalysts, those obtained from the mesoporous materials exhibited much higher yields to ethene. Several new phases, such as pyro-Mg₂V₂O₇, ortho-Mg₃(VO₄)₂ and meta-MgV₂O₆, formed between magnesia and vanadia, were identified by XRD in the mixed V-Mg oxide catalysts; they may be responsible for the catalytic activity. In the catalysts prepared from mesoporous V-Mg-O, a V₂O₃ phase, which may contain highly dispersed magnesium, was identified and suggested to be responsible for the higher catalytic performance.     

Condensation of aldehydes for environmentally friendly synthesis of 2-methyl-3-phenyl-propanal by heterogeneous catalysis

Eco-friendly synthesis in “one-pot” of 2-methyl-3-phenyl-propanal from benzaldehyde and propanal was studied using a multifunctional catalyst as an alternative to the three-step conventional process involving basic, acidic and hydrogenating catalysts. Mg(Al)O mixed oxides obtained from hydrotalcite precursor achieved the two first steps of condensation and dehydration. Addition of water to the solvent improves the activities and selectivities of Mg(Al)O, thanks to the reconstruction of the lamellar structure with OH⁻ as compensating anions, acting as Brønsted basic sites. Mg(Al)O was then used as support for a multifunctional catalyst impregnated with Pd. Pd/Mg(Al)O led to 45% dihydrocinnamaldehyde selectivity at 43% conversion in benzaldehyde in the “one-pot” process.     

Performance of metal‐oxide‐promoted LiCl/sulfated‐zirconia catalysts in the ethane oxidative dehydrogenation into ethene

The effects of some transition‐ and lanthanide‐metal oxides in LiCl/sulfated‐zirconia (SZ) catalysts on catalytic behavior in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane were investigated. It is found that modification of LiCl/SZ by metal oxides significantly improves the catalytic activity and ethene yield. Among those additives, Ni and Nd oxides show the best promoting effect in terms of ethane conversion and ethene yield. 93% ethane conversion with 83% selectivity to ethene has been achieved over the Nd₂O₃–LiCl/SZ catalyst at 650°C. In addition, those oxide‐promoted LiCl/SZ catalysts are also found to exhibit a longer stability in catalytic performance. Metal‐oxide additives change the chemical structure and surface redox properties, which accounts for the enhancement of activity. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Proton‐poor, gallium‐ and indium‐loaded zeolite dehydrogenation catalysts

The catalytic (propane dehydrocyclization) and reduction behaviors of near 1:1 cation (Ga, In)/framework‐Al MFI zeolites were examined under conditions where the materials were initially either in fully protonated or zero−protonated states. Reductions at appropriate temperatures proceeded up to ∼100% exchange of protons for reduced univalent cations. Further aqueous exchange of alkali (K⁺>) or alkaline earth (Ba²⁺) cations increased the selectivity for dehydrogenation reactions at little or no sacrifice in overall activity. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Aromatization of pentane catalyzed over various metallosilicates

Various metallosilicates were synthesized using a hydrothermal method and characterized by SEM, XRD,²⁹Si MAS NMR, chemical analysis and surface area measurements. These results showed that they had a MFI structure. The pentane aromatization reaction was carried out over these metallosilicates in a continuous flow reactor at 550 °C, He/pentane=3, WHSV=1.5 h⁻¹ and 1 atm. Among the various metallosilicates, [Ga]ZSM-5(20) (52.3%) and [Zn]ZSM-5(40) (37.6%) showed higher aromatic selectivities for pentane aromatization. When [Al] ZSM-5(40) was ion-exchanged with gallium nitrate and zinc chloride, the selectivities for aromatics increased from 23.0% to 35.5% and to 32.7%, respectively. The Si/metal mole ratios of [Ga]ZSM-5 and [Al]ZSM-5 were changed from 20 to 250 and NH₃ temperature programmed desorption (TPD) was carried out. As the Si/metal ratio was changed from 250 to 20, the selectivities for aromatics were increased from 5.3 % to 52.3 % over [Ga]ZSM-5 and from 10.1% to 25.7% over [Al]ZSM-5. NH₃ TPD of [Ga]ZSM-5 indicated that the sites of medium acidity play an important role in the formation of aromatics. When H₂ and CO were added to the reactant of pentane, the production of methane and ethane increased and that of aromatics decreased.     

Production of biodiesel by esterification of palmitic acid over mesoporous aluminosilicate Al-MCM-41

Biodiesel has been obtained by esterification of palmitic acid with methanol, ethanol and isopropanol in the presence of Al-MCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieves with Si/Al ratios of 8, 16 and 32. The catalytic acids were synthesized at room temperature and characterized by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), thermal analysis (TG/DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen absorption (BET/BJH), infrared spectroscopy (IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The reaction was carried out at 130 °C whilst stirring at 500 rpm, with an alcohol/acid molar ratio of 60 and 0.6 wt% catalyst for 2 h. The alcohol reactivity follows the order methanol > ethanol > isopropanol. The catalyst Al-MCM-41 with ratio Si/Al = 8 produced the largest conversion values for the alcohols studied. The data followed a rather satisfactory approximation to first-order kinetics.     

Efficient isomerization of safrole by amino-grafted MCM-41 materials as basic catalysts

Design of base catalyst featuring large mesoporous surfaces allows performing base-catalysed reactions in the fields of production of perfumes. Post-synthesis grafting of organotrialkoxysilanes has effectively been applied to incorporate active organic functional groups onto the mesoporous silica surfaces. The novelty of our study is the use of mesoporous materials with different chemical compositions: silicate (MCM-41), aluminosilicate (AlMCM-41; Si/Al = 64) and niobosilicate (NbMCM-41; Si/Nb = 64) and consequently, different acidity, as supports for three aminopropylalkoxysilanes (APMS), [3-(2-aminoethylamino) propyl]trimethoxysilane (2APMS) and 3-[2-(2-aminoethylamino) ethylamino]propyltrimethoxysilane (3APMS). Isomerization of safrole to the corresponding thermodynamically stable isosafrole has been carried out on these amino-grafted MCM-41 materials. Maximum conversion of around 85% with a cis/trans ratio of 1/9 at 433 K in DMF as solvent was obtained. Isomerization is strongly dependent on the nature of the support and changed in the following order: APMS/AlMCM-41 > APMS/NbMCM-41 ? APMS/MCM-41. The nature of the amine chain is also responsible of the activity. The order of activity is APMS/AlMCM-41 > 2APMS/AlMCM-41 > 3APMS/AlMCM-41.     

Liquid phase catalytic hydrodechlorination of aryl chlorides over Pd–Al-MCM-41 catalyst

Supported Pd catalysts were prepared by direct hydrothermal (DHT) or template-ion exchange (TIE) method on Al-substituted MCM-41 as the support and tested in the hydrodechlorination of aryl chlorides such as 4-chloroanisole in liquid phase, together with impregnated Pd catalysts as references. When Pd was loaded on Al-MCM-41 with the Si/Al ratio of 150 by the TIE method, the catalyst showed the highest activity among the Pd catalysts prepared. PdO originally formed on the catalyst surface was in situ reduced to Pd metal during the reaction as the active form for the dechlorination. The activities of the supported Pd catalysts well correlated with the Pd dispersion on the TIE or impregnated Pd catalysts, whereas the DHT catalysts showed relatively high activities independently on the Pd dispersions. It was confirmed that the dechlorination proceeded by a heterogeneous mechanism catalyzed by Pd metal particles sized less than 10 nm on the surface of the catalyst. Al substitution for Si on MCM-41 was effective for the loading of Pd metal with the high dispersion, none the less Pd was located on the surface of the TIE catalyst particles and no significant effect of mesoporous structure on the reaction was observed. Methanol was the most profitable as the solvent among the various solvents tested. Various types of arylchlorides bearing hydroxy, methoxy, methyl, nitro and phenylcarbonyl group at the p-position were efficiently dechlorinated over Pd–Al-MCM-41 catalyst at 40 °C. Electrophilic attack of arylchloride was proposed as the rate determining step, where ionic mechanism positively worked and electron-releasing substituents increased the catalytic activity.     

Ga2O3/HZSM-48 for dehydrogenation of propane: Effect of acidity and pore geometry of support

The catalytic performance of propane dehydrogenation over HZSM-48 supported Ga₂O₃ catalysts in the presence of CO₂ was investigated, and compared with that of HZSM-5 supported ones. The activity decreases with the increase of Si/Al ratio of catalyst support while the selectivity to propene shows a contrary trend. Ga₂O₃/HZSM-48 with Si/Al ratio of 130 has the best propene yield of 22%. HZSM-48 supported catalysts exhibit higher selectivities to propene than the HZSM-5 supported ones at similar propane conversion, due to their weak acid strength. However, their stabilities are not so good as those of the latters, owing to their more weak acid sites and unidimensional pore structures.     

Mechanistic Insight in the Ethane Dehydrogenation Reaction over Cr/Al2O3 Catalysts

A Cr/Al₂O₃ alkane dehydrogenation catalyst exhibits a maximum in ethylene yield during an ethane dehydrogenation cycle. Isotopic labelling experiments with monolabelled ¹³C-ethane and deuterium were used to elucidate whether the initial activity increase could be due to formation of an active, larger hydrocarbon intermediate on the surface. The results strongly indicate that this is not the case, and instead point to a traditional reaction cycle involving adsorption of ethane to form an ethyl species, followed by desorption of ethene and hydrogen. Transient kinetic data suggest that ethane adsorption is the rate-determining step of reaction.