Initiators Bronsted acids

Cr-ZSM-5 catalysts prepared by solid-state reaction from different chromium precursors (acetate, chloride, nitrate, sulphate and ammonium dichromate) were studied in the selective ammoxidation of ethylene to acetonitrile. Cr-ZSM-5 catalysts were characterized by chemical analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, FTIR (1500-400 cm 1), N2 physisorption (BET), 27A1 MAS NMR, UV-Visible spectroscopy, NH3-TPD and H2-TPR. For all samples, UV-Visible spectroscopy and H2-TPR results confirmed that both Cr(VI) ions and Cr(III) oxide coexist. TPD of ammonia showed that from the chromium incorporation, it results strong Lewis acid sites formation at the detriment of the initial Bronsted acid sites. The catalyst issued from chromium chloride showed higher activity and selectivity toward acetonitrile. This activity can be assigned to the nature of chromium species formed using this precursor. In general, C r6+ species seem to play a key role in the ammoxidation reaction but Cr203 oxide enhances the deep oxidation. 

Due to the highly electron-rich character of their double bonds, vinyl ethers are susceptible to cationic polymerization using a variety of Bronsted and Lewis acids as initiators. Bronsted acids as weak as H2SO3 (SO2-I-H2O) and H3PO4 effect the cationic polymerization of... 

Boron trioxide is not particularly soluble in water but it slowly dissolves to form both dioxo(HB02)(meta) and trioxo(H3B03) (ortho) boric acids. It is a dimorphous oxide and exists as either a glassy or a crystalline solid. Boron trioxide is an acidic oxide and combines with metal oxides and hydroxides to form borates, some of which have characteristic colours—a fact utilised in analysis as the "borax bead test , cf alumina p. 150. Boric acid. H3BO3. properly called trioxoboric acid, may be prepared by adding excess hydrochloric or sulphuric acid to a hot saturated solution of borax, sodium heptaoxotetraborate, Na2B407, when the only moderately soluble boric acid separates as white flaky crystals on cooling. Boric acid is a very weak monobasic acid it is, in fact, a Lewis acid since its acidity is due to an initial acceptance of a lone pair of electrons from water rather than direct proton donation as in the case of Lowry-Bronsted acids, i.e. 

When concentrated sulphuric acid alone was used as the initiator, the polymerization was found to follow a different path. It is well known that Bronsted acids can function as cationic/pseudocationic initiators in the oligomerization of olifins [174]. If the counter ion has a higher nucleophilicity as it forms cation-conjugate pairs, which collapse rapidly, polymerization will not take place. As the counter ion in the case of sulphuric acid is not very strong compared to the cation, oligomerization can take place, but may not be to a very high molecular weight. This, however, depends on the nature of the... 

Thus the reactant ions for chemical ionization formed in the methane plasma consists of approximately equal amounts of a strong gaseous Bronsted acid (CH5+) and ions which can act either as Lewis acids or Bronsted acids (C2H5+ + C3H5+). These reactant ions will effect the chemical ionization with an added substance by proton transfer or hydride ion transfer, both of which may be accompanied by fragmentation of the ion initially formed. 

Since their development in 1974 ZSM-5 zeolites have had considerable commercial success. ZSM-5 has a 10-membered ring-pore aperture of 0.55 nm (hence the 5 in ZSM-5), which is an ideal dimension for carrying out selective transformations on small aromatic substrates. Being the feedstock for PET, / -xylene is the most useful of the xylene isomers. The Bronsted acid form of ZSM-5, H-ZSM-5, is used to produce p-xylene selectively through toluene alkylation with methanol, xylene isomerization and toluene disproportionation (Figure 4.4). This is an example of a product selective reaction in which the reactant (toluene) is small enough to enter the pore but some of the initial products formed (o and w-xylene) are too large to diffuse rapidly out of the pore. /7-Xylene can, however. 

In the case of the rhenium aqua-ion [Re(OH2)3(CO)3]+ (33b) the question has been posed whether complex-anion can be considered to be a Bronsted acid. Titrations with hydroxide in water yielded a pKa value of 7.55 which is exceptionally low for a +1 cation. After the deprotonation of one coordinated water molecule, polymer formation over (/r-OH) bridges was initiated and the two compounds [Re3(/T3-OH)(/T-OH)3(CO)9r (35) and [Re2(/i-OH)3(CO)6] were (36) isolated and structurally characterized (Scheme 6). 

The LPDE system is applied to several reactions in which the metal ions coordinate to the lone pairs of heteroatoms, thereby activating the substrate. Initially, the effectiveness was shown in Diels Alder reactions (Scheme 1). In a highly concentrated (5.0 M) LPDE solution, Diels- Alder reactions proceeded smoothly.6-7 Generally, a catalytic amount of LiC104 is not effective in this reaction. In some cases, a catalytic amount of an additional Bronsted acid, such as camphorsulphonic acid (CSA), gives better results.8 An interesting double activation of carbonyl moieties by using dilithium compounds has been reported (compound... 

Kubica et al45 also investigated the effect of platinum-modified zeolites on the decalin reaction. They found that the addition of Pt enhances the catalyst activity. The initial isomerization was increased 3 times, which can be interpreted in terms of a change in the reaction initiation. In addition to initiation by a PC step over Bronsted acid sites, as proposed for H-form zeolites, a bifunctional initiation path... 

In anionic polymerization, the initiators are either Bronsted or Lewis acids. In Bronsted acid, H+ is the effective catalyst while in Lewis, co-catalyst is involved to give catalytically active species, e.g. 

The surfaces of clay minerals can catalyze the polymerization of organic compounds through a free radical-cationic initiation process. This type of reaction is believed to be initiated by the abstraction of an electron by Lewis acid sites on mineral surfaces however, Bronsted acidity has also been shown to be important in certain cases (see Chapter 22). 

This review aims at reporting on the synthesis of aliphatic polyesters by ROP of lactones. It is worth noting that lactones include cyclic mono- and diesters. Typical cyclic diesters are lactide and glycolide, whose polymerizations provide aliphatic polyesters widely used in the frame of biomedical applications. Nevertheless, this review will focus on the polymerization of cyclic monoesters. It will be shown that the ROP of lactones can take place by various mechanisms. The polymerization can be initiated by anions, organometallic species, cations, and nucleophiles. It can also be catalyzed by Bronsted acids, Lewis acids, enzymes, organic nucleophiles, and bases. The number of processes reported for the ROP of lactones is so huge that it is almost impossible to describe aU of them. In this review, we will focus on the more... 

Fig. 19 Monomer activation mechanism for the ROP of lactones catalyzed by Bronsted acids and initiated by nucleophilic alcohols...

In the above example, although the hydrogen-bond complex was formed initially, the nucleophilic addihon reaction was supposed to proceed via protonated form CPli, which clearly indicated that the phosphoric acid worked as a Bronsted-acid catalyst. 

Consequently, the processes most relevant to the topic of this chapter, that is, hydrogen bonds in organocatalytic transition states, are (i) transition state stabilization by pure hydrogen bonding (without full proton transfer), and (ii) general Bronsted-acid/Bronsted-based catalyzed reactions which are initiated by hydrogen bonding but move further to distinct proton transfer. 

Initial methane formation from methanol on the fresh catalyst is proposed to proceed on Bronsted acid sites as a reaction with a hydride donor - in... 

Cationic polymerization is initiated either by strong Lewis acids such as BFg or PF5 or by Bronsted acids such as H+BF4, H+PF, or H+SbFg. Lewis acids are generated by UV irradiation of aryldiazonium salts, whereas diary-liodonium, triarylsulfonium, and triarylselenium salts produce upon UV... 

As pointed out in Section 4.2.2, cationic polymerization processes are initiated by photoinitiators, which are essentially precursors generating Lewis and Bronsted acids. The mechanism of the process is ionic, and this chemistry does not function with the type of double bonds and unsaturation found in fhe monomers and oligomers reacting via free radical mechanism. 

One of the problems associated with thermal cyclodimerization of alkenes is the elevated temperatures required which often cause the strained cyclobutane derivatives formed to undergo ring opening, resulting in the formation of secondary thermolysis products. This deficiency can be overcome by the use of catalysts (metals Lewis or Bronsted acids) which convert less reactive alkenes to reactive intermediates (metalated alkenes, cations, radical cations) which undergo cycloaddilion more efficiently. Nevertheless, a number of these catalysts can also cause the decomposition of the cyclobutanes formed in the initial reaction. Such catalyzed alkene cycloadditions are limited specifically to allyl cations, strained alkenes such as methylenccyclo-propane and donor-acceptor-substituted alkenes. The milder reaction conditions of the catalyzed process permit the extension of the scope of [2 + 2] cycloadditions to include alkene combinations which would not otherwise react. 

A radical-cation initiated intramolecular cycloaddition of 3 to 4 has been reported to occur using tris(4-bromophenyl)amminium hexachloroantimonate (TBAH).22 A number of Bronsted acids including trifluoroacetic acid can also effect this reaction. 

The finding of the low-temperature activation of propane on zeolite Ga/HZSM-5 indicates a bifunctional reaction mechanism 179,181. The highly dispersed gallium oxide species in close vicinity to the Bronsted acid sites promote the initial activation of propane. Derouane et al. 179,181 further showed that hydrogen inhibits the activation of propane. This effect was explained by a competitive adsorption of hydrogen on the gallium species or even by a reduction of Ga to Ga species. 

Kerr, Plank, and Rosinski reported the preparation and catalytic properties of aluminum-deficient zeolite Y materials 35). Topchieva and co-workers studied the catalytic properties of cationic forms of aluminum-deficient Y zeolites, the aluminum deficiency being effected by the H4EDTA method 36-40). They found that up to 50% aluminum removal increased both stability and cumene cracking activity maximum activity was observed at the 50% removal level. Increased catalytic cracking activity was observed by Eberly and Kimberlin for mordenites from which about 80% aluminum had been removed (. 1). Weiss et al. removed over 99% of the aluminum from a hydrogen mordenite and found the zeolite retained catalytic activity of the type induced by Bronsted acids 42). Although the initial activity of this material was lower than that of more aluminum-rich mordenites, the aging rate was markedly reduced, and in a relatively short time the aluminum-deficient catalyst was the most active. 

After evacuation at 25°C (spectrum C), the physisorbed fraction of acetonitrile-d3 and also the H-bonding effects with the silica surface -OH have disappeared, while the Bronsted acidity is still present (2309 cm 1). Subsequent evacuation at 60°C does not change the intensity of the Bransted acidity (spectrum D). Even at 120°C and at 150°C Bransted acid sites are still detected (spectra E, F). Therefore, it can be concluded that the Al-PCH is characterized by an important Bransted surface acidity. This type of acidity is expected since the initial Na+ ions on saponite have been replaced by surfactant cations and then by protons upon destruction of the surfactant through calcination. Besides, by the grafting of Al-species onto the support, Si-(OH)-Al bonds have been created, giving rise to the band at 2309 cm 1 indicative of Bransted acidity [10]. 

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