Control of the Reaction Mechanism of Alkylaromatics Transalkylation by Means of Molecular Confinement Effects Associated to Zeolite Channel Architecture

"This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ACS Catalysis, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.9b00763"[EN] Transalkylation of alkylaromatics catalyzed by acid zeolites is a process widely employed in the petrochemical industry for upgrading aromatic fractions. The reaction mechanism is complex as it can proceed either by intermolecular alkyl-transfer involving dealkylation-alkylation steps with surface alkoxy species as reaction intermediates or through the formation of bulkier diaryl intermediates. We have investigated how the possible formation of such bulky intermediates in the microporous channel system of different zeolite structures, together with their stabilization by confinement effects, can determine the preferential mechanism and, therefore, the selectivity of ethylbenzene disproportionation into benzene and diethylbenzene. For testing the concept, four zeolites, MCM-22 (3D MWW) with 1OR pores, 12R cavities and external 12R hemicavities or "cups", DS-ITQ2, (2D MWW) with the same 1OR channels as MCM-22, no 12R cavities and much larger proportion of external "cups", a 10R ZSM-5 (MFI) and a 12R mordenite (MOR) have been used. The higher activity of DS-ITQ2 and MCM-22 as compared to ZSM-5 at low temperature (573 K) and the high selectivity to diethylbenzene of the bidimensional material under all reaction conditions considered have been explained by means of DFT calculations. Contrary to what could be expected according to the available space at the external "cups" and at the lOR channels of the MWW structure, the bulkier diaryl intermediates are better stabilized within the lOR channel system than at the "cups" open at the external surface of the MWW materials. We show from this perspective how the channel structure and molecular confinement stabilization also explain the operating reaction mechanism in ZSM-5 and mordenite.This work was supported by the Spanish Government through "Severo Ochoa Program" (SEV 2012-0267; SEV-2016-0683), RTI2018-101033-B-I00 and MAT2017-82288-C2-1-P, by the Fundacion Ramon Areces through a research contract of the "Life and Materials Science" program, and by the European Union through ERC-AdG-2014-671093 (SynCatMatch). Red Espanola de Supercomputacion (RES) and Centre de Calcul de la Universitat de Valencia are gratefully acknowledged for computational resources and technical support. We thank the Electron Microscopy Service of the UPV for their help in sample characterization.Margarit Benavent, VJ.; Osman, M.; Al-Khattaf, S.; Martínez, C.; Boronat Zaragoza, M.; Corma Canós, A. (2019). Control of the Reaction Mechanism of Alkylaromatics Transalkylation by Means of Molecular Confinement Effects Associated to Zeolite Channel Architecture. ACS Catalysis. 9(7):5935-5946. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.9b00763S593559469

Catalytic mechanism of the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene over Fe-Co/Mg(Al)O derived from hydrotalcites

Catalytic mechanism of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation over Fe-Co/Mg(Al)O derived from hydrotalcites has been studied based on the XAFS and XPS catalyst characterization and the FTIR measurements of adsorbed species. Fe-Co/Mg(Al)O showed synergy, whereas Fe-Ni/Mg(Al)O showed no synergy, in the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene. Ni species were stably incorporated as Ni(2+) in the regular sites in periclase and spinel structure in the Fe-Ni/Mg(Al)O. Contrarily, Co species exists as a mixture of Co(3+)/Co(2+) in the Fe-Co/Mg(Al)O and was partially isolated from the regular sites in the structures with increasing the Co content. Co addition enhanced Lewis acidity of Fe(3+) active sites by forming Fe(3+)-O-Co(3+/2+)(1/1) bond, resulting in an increase in the activity. FTIR of ethylbenzene adsorbed on the Fe-Co/Mg(Al)O clearly showed formations of C-O bond and pi-adsorbed aromatic ring. This suggests that ethylbenzene was strongly adsorbed on the Fe(3+) acid sites via pi-bonding and the dehydrogenation was initiated by alpha-H(+) abstraction from ethyl group on Mg(2+)-O(2-) basic sites, followed by C-O-Mg bond formation. The alpha-H(+) abstraction by O(2-)(-Mg(2+)) was likely followed by beta-H abstraction, leading to the formations of styrene and H(2). Such catalytic mechanism by the Fe(3+) acid-O(2-)(-Mg(2+)) base couple and the Fe(3+)/Fe(2+) reduction-oxidation cycle was further assisted by Co(3+)/Co(2+), leading to a good catalytic activity for the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene

Kinetic modeling of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation over hydrotalcite catalysts

Kinetics of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation to styrene was investigated over a series of quaternary mixed oxides of Mg3Fe0.25Me0.25Al0.5 (Me=Co, Mn and Ni) catalysts prepared by calcination of hydrotalcite-like compounds and compared with commercial catalyst. The study was carried out in the absence of steam using a riser simulator at 400, 450, 500 and 550°C for reaction times of 5, 10, 15 and 20s. Mg3Fe0.25Mn0.25Al0.5 afforded the highest ethylbenzene conversion of 19.7% at 550°C. Kinetic parameters for the dehydrogenation process were determined using the catalyst deactivation function based on reactant conversion model. The apparent activation energies for styrene production were found to decrease as follows: E1-Ni>E1-Co>E1-Mn.</p

Phenomenological-based kinetics modelling of dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene over a Mg3Fe0.25Mn0.25Al0.5 hydrotalcite catalyst

This communication reports a mechanism-based kinetics modelling for the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene (ST) using Mg3Fe0.25Mn0.25Al0.5 catalyst. Physicochemical characterisation of the catalyst indicates that the presence of basic sites Mg2+O2- on the catalysts along with Fe3+ is responsible for the catalytic activity. The kinetics experiments are developed using a CREC Fluidised Riser Simulator. Based on the experimental observations and the possible mechanism of the various elementary steps, Langmuir-Hinshelwood type kinetics model are developed. To take into account of the possible catalyst deactivation a reactant conversion-based deactivation function is also introduced into the model. Parameters are estimated by fitting of the experimental data implemented in MATLAB. Results show that one site type Langmuir-Hinshelwood model appropriately describes the experimental data, with adequate statistical fitting indicators and also satisfied the thermodynamic restraints. The estimated heat of adsorptions of EB (64kJ/mole) is comparable to the values available in the literature. The activation energy for the formation of ST (85.5kJ/mole) found to be significantly lower than that of the cracking product benzene (136.6kJ/mole). These results are highly desirable in order to achieve high selectivity of the desired product ST.</p

Kinetics of toluene alkylation with methanol catalyzed by pure and hybridized HZSM-5 catalysts

A kinetic study of toluene alkylation with methanol was performed over pure HZSM-5, mordenite/ZSM-5 (hybrid of mordenite and HZSM-5), and ZM13 (composite mixture of HZSM-5 and MCM-41 at pH 13). Experimental runs were conducted using a batch fluidized bed reactor at temperatures of 300, 350 and 400 °C and reaction times of 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15 and 20. s. The rate of toluene methylation and toluene disproportionation were studied on the three catalysts (toluene alkylation is usually accompanied by toluene disproportionation on acid catalyst). Based on the results obtained, a simplified power law kinetic model consisting of three reactions was developed to estimate the activation energies of toluene methylation and disproportionation simultaneously. Coke formation on catalysts was accounted for using both reaction time and reactant conversion decay functions. All parameters were estimated based on quasi-steady state approximation. Estimated kinetic parameters were in good agreement with experimental results. The order of alkylation ability of the catalysts was found to be ZM13 > HZSM-5 > mordenite/ZSM-5, while the reverse is for toluene disproportionation (mordenite/ZSM-5 > HZSM-5 > ZM13). Thus, alkylation of toluene is most favorable on ZM13 due to combined effect of mesoporosity induced through its synthetic route and acid content. Toluene/MeOH molar ratio of 1:1 was most suitable for toluene alkylation reaction.</p

Kinetics modeling of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation to styrene over a mesoporous alumina supported iron catalyst

The kinetics of ethylbenzene (EB) dehydrogenation over a FeO x-meso-Al 2O 3 catalyst is studied. The models were developed based on physicochemical characterization and a CREC fluidized Riser Simulator data. N 2 adsorption shows that the synthesized FeO x-meso-Al 2O 3 catalyst is mesoporous with pore size between 9 and 35nm. TPR profile indicates that iron on meso-Al 2O 3 forms easily reducible nanostructured crystals which is confirmed by TEM image. NH 3- and CO-TPD analysis, respectively reveals the availability of both acidic and basic sites. The dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene on FeO x-meso-Al 2O 3 catalyst mainly gives styrene (∼99%) while a small amount of benzene, toluene and coke are also detected. Based on the experimental observations two Langmuir-Hinshelwood type kinetics models are formulated. The possible catalyst deactivation is expressed as function of EB conversion. Parameters are estimated by fitting of the experimental data implemented in MATLAB. Results show that one type site Langmuir-Hinshelwood model appropriately describes the experimental data, with adequate statistical fitting indicators and also satisfied the physical constraints. The activation energy for the formation of styrene (80kJ/mol) found to be significantly lower than that of the undesired products benzene (144kJ/mol) and toluene (164kJ/mol). The estimated heat of adsorptions of EB and ST are found to be 55kJ/mol and 19kJ/mol, respectively.</p