Dehydration of butanols on copper-containing zirconium orthophosphates

The catalytic properties of ternary zirconium phosphates N a1-2xCuxZr2(PO4)3 in the transformations of butanols were been studied. It was found that the structure of alcohol and the copper content (x = 0, 0.15, 0.25, 0.35) affect the rate and selectivity of dehydration. The activity and selectivity changed as the content of copper that substitutes for sodium ions increased. The general conversion of alcohol and selectivity in dehydration decreased in the series butanol-2 →- isobutanol →- butanol-1, due probably to the change in the apparent activation energy of the reaction, depending on the stability of alcohol binding to the surface. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2010.