Alkylation of Toluene with Isopropanol on Lantanum Modified ZSM-5 Zeolite

Abstract: The effect of lanthanum concentration on the physicochemical and catalyticproperties of HZSM-5 zeolite in a reaction of toluene alkylation withisopropanol was studied in a temperature range of 250–350°C. Based on the dataobtained by X-ray diffraction analysis, low-temperature nitrogen adsorption (BETmethod), and IR spectroscopy, it was shown that an increase in lanthanumconcentration in HZSM-5 from 1.0 wt % to 7.0 wt % reduces both the specificsurface area and the pore volume of the zeolite despite the retention of itscrystalline structure. This also results in redistribution of acid sites,specifically decreases the concentration of strong Brønsted acid sites (B) andincreases that of moderate Lewis acid sites (L), thus decreasing the B/L ratiofrom 3.53 to 0.20. All these occurrences have a crucial effect on theselectivity of reaction products and, in particular, on the p-isopropyl toluene (4-IPT) selectivity. Maximumselectivity, making up 72.4%, is achieved by a zeolite containing 5.0 wt %lanthanum at a B/L ratio of 0.25. © 2021, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.