Properties of Liquid Acid Alkylation Catalysts

This contribution is an in-depth review of chemical and technological aspects of the alkylation of isobutane with lightalkenes, focused on the mechanisms operative with both liquid and solid acid catalysts. The differences in importance of the individual mechanistic steps are discussed in terms of the physical-chemical properties of specific catalysts. The impact of important process parameters on alkylation performance is deduced from the mechanism. The established industrial processes based on the application of liquid acids and recent process developments involving solid acid catalysts are described briefly. 2004 Elsevier Inc. 

The technology and chemistry of isoalkane-alkene alkylation have been thoroughly reviewed for both liquid and solid acid catalysts (15) and for solid acid catalysts alone (16). The intention of this review is to provide an up-to-date overview of the alkylation reaction with both liquid and solid acids as catalysts. The focus is on the similarities and differences between the liquid acid catalysts on one hand and solid acid catalysts, especially zeolites, on the other. Thus, the reaction mechanism, the physical properties of the individual catalysts, and their consequences for successful operation are reviewed. The final section is an overview of existing processes and new process developments utilizing solid acids. 

The catalytic cracking of four major classes of hydrocarbons is surveyed in terms of gas composition to provide a basic pattern of mode of decomposition. This pattern is correlated with the acid-catalyzed low temperature reverse reactions of olefin polymerization and aromatic alkylation. The Whitmore carbonium ion mechanism is introduced and supported by thermochemical data, and is then applied to provide a common basis for the primary and secondary reactions encountered in catalytic cracking and for acid-catalyzed polymerization and alkylation reactions. Experimental work on the acidity of the cracking catalyst and the nature of carbonium ions is cited. The formation of liquid products in catalytic cracking is reviewed briefly and the properties of the gasoline are correlated with the over-all reaction mechanics. 

The use of immobilised ILs as catalysts would result in the easy separation of the catalyst from the reaction mixture, allowing its fast reuse and avoiding the generation of contaminated waste and its subsequent treatment. Ionic liquids have already been proposed as catalysts for Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene with olefins in order to produce LABs32-35. They show Lewis acidic properties when a Lewis acid (e.g. 

Highly Lewis-acidic chloroaluminate ionic liquids (ILs) are well known to be both versatile solvents and effective catalysts for Friedel-Crafts reactions [1,2]. Tailoring the physical and chemical properties of the ILs to the needs of a specific reaction allows for a high diversity of applications [3,4]. We could show that immobilising these ILs on inorganic supports yields very active catalysts for alkylation reactions. The immobilisation of ionic liquids leads to novel Lewis-acidic catalysts (NLACs). The methods presented include the method of incipient wetness (method 1, further on called NLAC I), which has been introduced in detail by Hoelderich et al. f5], but focus of this presentation lies on the methods 2 (NLAC II) and 3 (NLAC III). 

There have been many efforts to commercialize 2,6-dicarboxynaphthalene for the preparation of poly(ethylene-2,6-naphthalate) due to its favorable thermoplastic properties compared with PET. Therefore, there are numerous patents in which 2,6-alkyl-substituted (alkyl = methyl, ethyl, isopropyl) naphthalenes are oxidized to the corresponding aromatic di-acids, applying mostly Co/Mn/Br catalysts with various co-catalysts such as Zr or Pd in acetic acid as the solvent. The major byproduct is formed by the oxidation of the naphthalene ring to give trimellitic acid (TMA) [5a, 8]. Sumikin Chemical has developed a method to prepare 2,6-naphtha-lenedicarboxylic acid by oxidation of 2,6-diisopropylnaphthalene (2,6-DIPN) in the liquid phase with air in a 500 tpy plant. Sumikin uses a newly developed catalyst based on Co/Mn with an addition of a few ppm of Pd giving advantages such as yields higher than 90 %, suppression of TMA production to around 1 %, and thus better catalyst recovery, and reduced consumption of acetic acid. 

It is not surprising that electrophilic aromatic substitutions were the first organic reactions investigated using acidic room-temperature chloro-almninate(III) ionic liquids. Indeed, chloroaluminate(ni) species combine their properties of good solvents for simple arenes to their role as Lewis acid catalysts. In Friedel-Craft alkylations, polyalkylation is common as well as the isomerisation of primary halides to secondary carbonium ions. 

Mg-Al mixed oxides obtained by thermal decomposition of anionic clays of hydrotalcite structure, present acidic or basic surface properties depending on their chemical composition [1]. These materials contain the metal components in close interaction thereby promoting bifunctional reactions that are catalyzed by Bronsted base-Lewis acid pairs. Among others, hydrotalcite-derived mixed oxides promote aldol condensations [2], alkylations [3] and alcohol eliminations reactions [1]. In particular, we have reported that Mg-Al mixed oxides efficiently catalyze the gas-phase self-condensation of acetone to a,P-unsaturated ketones such as mesityl oxides and isophorone [4]. Unfortunately, in coupling reactions like aldol condensations, basic catalysts are often deactivated either by the presence of byproducts such as water in the gas phase or by coke build up through secondary side reactions. Deactivation has traditionally limited the potential of solid basic catalysts to replace environmentally problematic and corrosive liquid bases. However, few works in the literature deal with the deactivation of solid bases under reaction conditions. Studies relating the concerted and sequential pathways required in the deactivation mechanism with the acid-base properties of the catalyst surface are specially lacking. 

The alkylation of phenol with tert-butyl alcohol was carried out in the ionic liquids [BMIM][Pp6] [48], [OMIM][Bp4], and [HMIM][BF4], Comparative studies on the catalytic properties of ionic liquids, H3PO4 and some solid acidic catalysts were carried out under identical reaction conditions, and the solvent effects were studied. The use of ionic liquids was found to enhance the catalytic properties of the catalysts used [49]. However, the claim that [BMIM][PP6] alone can catalyze this reaction is uncertain, and, is probably due to the presence of traces of hydrogen fluoride in the ionic liquid [45, 46]. Dy(OTf)3 dissolved in various [BF4] and [PFg]" ionic... 

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