Dehydrocyclization, paraffins cyclization

Catalytic reforming rearranging hydrocarbon molecules in a gasoline-boiling-range feedstock to produce other hydrocarbons having a higher antiknock quality isomerization of paraffins, cyclization of paraffins to naphthenes (q.v.), and dehydrocyclization of paraffins to aromatics (q.v.). 

The second aromatization reaction is the dehydrocyclization of paraffins to aromatics. For example, if n-hexane represents this reaction, the first step would be to dehydrogenate the hexane molecule over the platinum surface, giving 1-hexene (2- or 3-hexenes are also possible isomers, but cyclization to a cyclohexane ring may occur through a different mechanism). Cyclohexane then dehydrogenates to benzene. 

Aromatization of paraffins can occur through a dehydrocyclization reaction. Olefinic compounds formed by the beta scission can form a carbocation intermediate with the configuration conducive to cyclization. For example, if a carbocation such as that shown below is formed (by any of the methods mentioned earlier), cyclization is likely to occur. 

Bragin and co-workers found that over platinum-on-carbon catalysts, both paraffins and alkylaromatics follow zero-order kinetics. Activation energy for C5-dehydrocyclization in which the new bond is formed between two sp3 hybridized atoms is substantially less than the activation energy of cyclization in which the new bond is formed between one sp3 hybridized atom and the sp2 hybridized carbon atom of the aromatic ring. Over one batch of platinum-on-carbon catalyst, Bragin and co-workers obtained 20 kcal/mol and 27.5 kcal/mol activation energies for the dehydrocyclization of paraffins and monoalkylbenzenes, respectively (6). Another batch of platinum on carbon (which differed only in some minor details of preparation from the first batch), gave 14 kcal/mol for the cyclization of l-methyl-2-ethylbenzene and isooctane, and 29 kcal/mol for the cyclization of secondary butylbenzene ( ) (Fig. 1). 

Platinum-catalyzed cyclization of alkylaromatics is faster than the cyclization of paraffins because the presence of the aromatic ring enhances the rate. The rate of dehydrocyclization further increases with the number of aromatic rings in the feed molecule. A comparative study of the de-... 

In his 1940 review Plate subjected the experimental material on dehydrocyclization of paraffins published to that time to a critical analysis (304) and concluded that aromatization of paraffins at the temperatures employed will depend upon the selection of proper catalysts in order to suppress the competing reactions, that the multiplet theory satisfactorily explains the mechanism of cyclization, and that intermediate formation of olefins is conceivable on oxide catalysts but can hardly occur on platinum. 

Kinetics and Mechanism. The dehydrocyclization of alkanes may occur by two different mechanism involving only the metallic function, or by a bifunctional mechanism where the dehydrogenation-hydrogenation steps occurs on the metal, and the cyclization occurs on the acid sites. The metallic mechanism is very sensitive to poisons such as sulfur and coke (18), and because of this in the commercial process the paraffins dehydrocyclization occurs mainly by the bifunctional mechanism (8). Details about the paraffin dehydrocyclization reaction on metals can be found elsewhere (9,32-34). 

Straight-run gasoline is composed primarily of alkanes and cycloalkanes with only a small fraction of aromatics, and has a low ON of about 50. The ON is improved by catalytic reforming of n-paraffins and cycloalkanes into branched alkanes and aromatics. The main reactions are isomerization (w- to iso-), cycli-zation, dehydrogenation, and dehydrocyclization. The bifunctional catalyst has an acidic function to catalyze isomerization and cyclization and a dehydrogenation function that requires an active metal site. Typically, platinum is used as the metal and AI2O3 for the acidity. 

Cyclization—The conversion of aliphatic hydrocarbons containing six or more carbon atoms in a chain to the corresponding aromatic hydrocarbon is known as dehydrocyclization. The reaction sequence is believed to involve dehydrogenation of a paraffin to an olefin followed by ring closure and subsequent dehydrogenation of the ring compound to an aromatic. In many cases, isomerization (see 18) reactions also take place. 

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