Insight into the active site nature of zeolite H-BEA for liquid phase etherification of isobutylene with ethanol.

The nature of active acid sites of zeolite H-BEA with different Si/Al ratios (15-407) in liquid phase etherification of isobutylene with ethanol in a continuous flow reactor in the temperature range 80-180 °C has been explored. We describe and discuss data concerning the strength and concentration of acid sites of H-BEA obtained by techniques of stepwise (quasi-equilibrium) thermal desorption of ammonia, X-ray diffraction, low-temperature adsorption of nitrogen, FTIR spectroscopy of adsorbed pyridine and solid-state 27Al MAS NMR. The average values of the adsorption energy of NH3 on H-BEA were experimentally determined as 63.7; 91.3 and 121.9 mmol g-1 (weak, medium, and strong, respectively). In agreement with this, a correlation between the rate of ethyl-tert-butyl ether synthesis and the concentration of weak acid sites (E NH3 = 61.6-68.9 kJ mol-1) has been observed. It was concluded that the active sites of H-BEA for this reaction are Brønsted hydroxyls representing internal silanol groups associated with octahedrally coordinated aluminum in the second coordination sphere.

Postsynthesis transformation of three-dimensional framework into a lamellar zeolite with modifiable architecture.

Mild treatment of zeolite UTL results in degradation of its structure with preservation of the initially present dense layers connected by D4R "bridges". The lamellar product obtained through this 3D to 2D zeolite conversion has been structurally modified similar to methodologies applied to layered zeolite precursors, which show the opposite 2D to 3D zeolite transformation.

The role of crystallization parameters for the synthesis of germanosilicate with UTL topology.

The investigation of the critical synthesis parameters of germanosilicate of UTL topology, possessing 14- and 12-rings, has been carried out in detail. (6R,10S)-6,10-Dimethyl-5-azoniaspiro[4.5]decane hydroxide was used as the structure-directing agent (SDA). The kinetics of the synthesis, the role of the Si/Ge ratio in the synthesis mixture, and the effect of the calcination procedure were investigated in relation to the crystallinity and textural properties of the synthesized material. The optimum synthesis time was found to be six days for Si/Ge and (Si+Ge)/SDA molar ratios of 2 and 1.7, respectively. The UTL zeolite crystallizes as small sheets of 10 mum in size. The micropore volume of the best crystals is 0.22 cm(3) g(-1) with a micropore diameter of 1.05 nm, based on DFT and Saito-Foley analyses of adsorption data.