Alkylation of lignin-derived aromatic oxygenates with cyclic alcohols on acidic zeolites

Yuanshuai Liu, Guanhua Cheng, Eszter Baráth, Hui Shi, Johannes A. Lercher

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

Moderately strong BAS and spacious microporous environments (i.e., large-pore acidic zeolites HBEA and HY) are important criteria for efficient alkylation of phenols with cyclic alcohols and alkenes, while very strong BAS appear to be responsible for catalyst deactivation. BAS confined in HBEA and HY pores show substantially higher turnover frequencies compared to solids without molecularly sized pore constraints. HBEA favors the formation of mono-alkylates, while enhanced formation of di-alkylates is observed on HY. Dehydration of alcohols always dominates over the alkylation at the onset of the reaction. Carbenium ions, the direct electrophile for aromatic oxygenates, are produced mainly from the adsorption and protonation of olefins. The present study shows that for the alkylation of phenols and cyclic alcohols in apolar liquids, the alcohol concentration should be kept low to avoid the formation of unreactive surface dimers and mitigate their inhibitory effects on olefin adsorption and protonation.

Original languageEnglish
Article number119424
JournalApplied Catalysis B: Environmental
Volume281
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2021

Keywords

  • Alkylation
  • Aromatic oxygenates
  • Phenol
  • Reaction pathways
  • Zeolites

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