| Abstract: | Dehydration of 1-phenylethanol has been carried out over a solid acidic catalyst in order to examine the effect of the concentration of effective acid sites on the reaction rate, styrene selectivity and catalyst fouling. The reaction rate increased with the concentration of effective acid sites, while styrene selectivity decreased. The catalyst deactivation depended upon the concentration of the effective acid sites and also the size of the micro pores in the catalyst. Taking into account the reaction rate and selectivity, ALO-4 alumina was the most suitable catalyst for the present reaction. An activation energy for the dehydration over ALO-4 alumina was 83.8 kJ mol?1. The dehydration reaction could be a useful tool for the characterization of the nature of the acid sites. |
