Benzene Alkylation with 1-Dodecene over H-Mordenite Zeolite

The alkylation of benzene with 1-dodecene was studied over solid-acid zeolites, such as H-mordenite, H-USY, HY, and H-ZSM-5, in a batch reactor at 140°C and 10 atm. H-mordenite showed the highest selectivity of 78.2% for 2-phenyldodecane with 100% conversion. Depending on the catalyst amount (from 0.5 to 1.0 g) and the molar ratio of benzene to 1-dodecene (from 7 to 10), the conversion of 1-dodecene varied in the range from 63.8 to 100%. Furthermore, modification of H-mordenite by dealumination using nitric acid and by solid ion exchange with Mg²⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions led to the improvement of the selectivity for 2-phenyldodecane, and simultaneously reduction of the conversion of 1-dodecene is observed. In addition, it was found by pyridine adsorption FT-IR study that both strong Brønsted and Lewis acid sites are closely related to the conversion.