Nanoporous reactor with tunable selectivity on alkylation of ethylbenzene

As nanoporous reactor, mesoporous silicates containing aluminum acidic site with n(Si)/n(Al) ratio up to 7 (AISBA-15) were prepared through a simple one-pot synthesis, which was recently developed by parts of us. The obtained materials were satisfactorily characterized by XRD and nitrogen adsorption/desorption and have regularly arranged hexagonal structures with pore diameters in the 9.6-11.8-nm range. The density and strength of the acid sites were determined using temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) of pyridine and controlled distribution between weak, moderate, and strong acid sites was demonstrated. The alkylation of ethylbenzene in a fixed-bed flow-type reactor using the AISBA-15 nanoporous reactor was carried out under various conditions such as temperature, feed ratio, flow rate, and time on stream. Interestingly, perfect regioselectivity between the m-isomer and the o-/p-isomers of diethylbenzene was achieved, where 100% selectivity of the m-isomer or the o-/p-isomers can be obtained by simply tuning the reaction temperature by using AISBA-15 catalyst with appropriate aluminum content.