Reaction on the Surface of a Zeolite

Zeolite as a catalyst is very useful for organic reactions, providing high selectivity. As they are available in different cavity sizes, they are very effective in 

The other isomers (o,m) of xylene isomerize rapidly inside the pores. The p-xylene diffuses out reasonably fast, while other isomers are rather slow and thus these isomers undergo isomerization to p-xylene before escaping from the channel system. 

The thermodynamically more stable trowx-isomer, which is the sole product of homogeneous MPV reduction in presence of propane-2-ol, was not detected in this case. This remarkable selectivity is attributed to the pore size of zeolite BEA. 

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