Acids, acid strength dehydration

Organic Reactions. Nitric acid is used extensively ia iadustry to nitrate aHphatic and aromatic compounds (21). In many iastances nitration requires the use of sulfuric acid as a dehydrating agent or catalyst the extent of nitration achieved depends on the concentration of nitric and sulfuric acids used. This is of iadustrial importance ia the manufacture of nitrobenzene and dinitrotoluene, which are iatermediates ia the manufacture of polyurethanes. Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is an explosive. Various isomers of mononitrotoluene are used to make optical brighteners, herbicides (qv), and iasecticides. Such nitrations are generally attributed to the presence of the nitronium ion, NO2, the concentration of which iacreases with acid strength (see Nitration). 

The hydrated cation of quinazoline in dilute acid solution becomes dehydrated when the acidity of the solution is progressively increased. At Ho —4.3, the solution consists predominantly of the anhydrous cation with some anhydrous dication ( 7%). The ultraviolet spectrum of the anhydrous cation is similar to that of the neutral molecule (there is a small bathochromic shift) and it is also similar to that of quinazoline in anhydrous dichloroacetic acid. When the acid strength is further increased to Ho —9.4, the quinazoline dication is formed (pKa —5.5). 

Shape selective catalysis as typically demonstrated by zeolites is of great interest from scientific as well as industrial viewpoint [17], However, the application of zeolites to organic reactions in a liquid-solid system is very limited, because of insufficient acid strength and slow diffusion of reactant molecules in small pores. We reported preliminarily that the microporous Cs salts of H3PW12O40 exhibit shape selectivity in a liquid-solid system [18]. Here we studied in more detail the acidity, micropore structure and catal3rtic activity of the Cs salts and wish to report that the acidic Cs salts exhibit efficient shape selective catalysis toward decomposition of esters, dehydration of alcohol, and alkylation of aromatic compound in liquid-solid system. The results were discussed in relation to the shape selective adsorption and the acidic properties. 

The relation between the acid strength of the catalysts and the mechanism has also been demonstrated by correlations [55,123] of the reaction parameter, p, of the Taft equation for the dehydration of secondary alcohols on A1203 + NaOH, Zr02, Ti02 and Si02 (see Table 4) with the sensitivity to pyridine poisoning, the heat of adsorption of water and diethylether and the kinetic isotope deuterium effects (Table 3) on the same catalysts (Fig. 5). The parameter p reflects the mechanism being... 

The work of Misono et al. (55) illustrates how acid strength distributions for silica-alumina catalyst can be deduced from catalytic titration measurements by use of an appropriate series of reactants. Surface concentration of amine, pyridine in this case, was adjusted by proper choice of amine partial pressure and desorption temperature while carrier gas flowed over the catalyst sample. At each level of chemisorbed pyridine, pulses of the reactants were passed over silica-alumina at 200°C and the products analyzed. The reactants were t-butylbenzene, diisobutylene, butenes, and f-butanol. It was concluded that skeletal transformations require the presence of very strong acid sites, that double-bond isomerization occurs over moderately strong acid sites, and that alcohol dehydration can occur on weak acid sites. 

The pioneer work in this field was carried out on polystyrene-supported acid catalysts [161]. Thereafter, several works on the use of sulfonic, strong acidic cation exchangers as acid catalysts were reported for alkylation, hydration, etherification, esterification, cleavage of ether bonds, dehydration, and aldol condensation [162,168-171], Besides, industrial applications of these materials were evaluated with reactions related to the chemistry of alkenes, that is, alkylation, isomerization, oligomerization, and acylation. [163,169], Also, Nation, an acid resin which has an acid strength equivalent to concentrated sulfuric acid, can be applied as an acid catalyst. It is used for the alkylation of aromatics with olefins in the liquid or gas phases and other reactions however, due to its low surface area, the Nation resin has relatively low catalytic activity in gas-phase reactions or liquid-phase processes where a nonpolar reactant or solvent is employed [166],... 

The concentration ratio, or the so-called spent acid strength or dehydrating... 

Perfluoroalkanedisulphonic acids (PFAS) are solid and possess strong acid properties both in solid state and in solution. To our knowledge, they have never been used in the alkylation of isobutane. They were obtained as dihydrate and as such were not acidic enough to be active in isobutane alkylation. Furthermore, they possessed low surface areas. The surface area can be increased by supporting PFAS on an amorphous solid, but it is critical that the solid does not attenuate the acid strength, We have found that a method for dehydrating PFAS and for supporting it on silica. The method allows to obtain an new catalyst, PFAS-Si(>2, which is active in the alkylation of isobutane. 

Trifluoroacetic acid is a nonoxidizing acid whose aqueous solutions are comparable in strength with those of the mineral acids 115), but as a bulk solvent it is weakly acidic and does not even protonate water (236). Trifluoroacetic acid is also weakly basic and is a nonelectrolyte in 100% sulfuric acid (21). One of the major difficulties of using pure trifluoroacetic acid is its remarkable affinity for water and, to maintain an anhydrous medium, a small quantity of trifluoroacetic anhydride is usually added. This affinity for water is so pronounced that trifluoroacetic acid will dehydrate oxyacids and, for example, converts sulfuric acid into polysulfuric acid. 

Moffat and his co-workers have carried out several studies with phosphate catalysts and Moffat and Riggs prepared BPO4 catalysts for which H3PO4/H3BO3 varied from 1.0 to 1.5 and used them for propan-l-ol dehydration. Surface acidity was determined by n-butylamine titration and the rate constant was observed to increase as surface acidity increased this could have been an effect of either total acid strength or of a narrower range of strengths. It was also concluded that, as acid site concentration decreased with pre-treatment temperature, the main active sites must be Bronsted acid sites. 

It was also pointed out that good dehydration catalysts are not necessarily good hydration catalysts and the important factor appears to be the presence of sites of the correct acid strength. Thus, for ethylene hydration, sites with acid strengths in the range — 8.2 —3.0 are... 

---