Zeolite catalysis computational chemistry

There has been a phenomenal growth of interest in theoretical simulations over the past decade. The concomitant advances made in computing power and software development have changed the way that computational chemistry research is undertaken. No longer is it the exclusive realm of specialized theoreticians and supercomputers rather, computational chemistry is now accessible via user-friendly programs on moderately priced workstations. State-of-the-art calculations on the fastest, massively parallel machines are continually enlarging the scope of what is possible with these methods. These reasons, coupled with the continuing importance of solid acid catalysis within the world s petrochemical and petroleum industries, make it timely to review recent work on the theoretical study of zeolite catalysis. 

Computational studies on catalysis by zeolites begin with the need to identify the structures of the most probable active sites as well as different species formed within the zeolite pores in the course of the reaction. Such species correspond to specific stationary points on a so-called potential energy surface (PES) that is one of the core concepts in computational chemistry. The first derivative of the potential energy at these points is zero with respect to every degree of freedom in the system. 

The experimental methods of dilfraetion and spectroscopy are uniquely applicable to the study of crystalhne microporous solids and their chemistry. Nevertheless, there are important aspects of zeolite science that are not readily accessible to these techniques the species involved in nucleation and crystal growth, the structure of sites (often present at low concentration) that are active for adsorption and catalysis or the reaction intermediates present in catalysis. In these cases computational atomistic simulation offers great possibilities for improved understanding. Furthermore, many experimental measurements, such as calorimetric studies of heats of adsorption, and NMR or neutron scattering studies of dynamics, may be very expensive and time-consuming. Computer simulation methods, which promise to predict the performance of materials as adsorbents and catalysts rapidly and at reasonable expense, are therefore highly attractive. Excellent recent texts and useful reviews are available that deal with the simulation of microporous materials. Here I summarise the most widely used methods and the information they give. 

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