Dehydroisomerisation of α-Pinene and Limonene to p-Cymene over Silica-Supported ZnO in the Gas Phase

Silica-supported zinc oxide possessing acid and dehydrogenation functions is an efficient, noble-metal-free bifunctional catalyst for the environment-friendly synthesis of p-Cymene from renewable monoterpene feedstock by gas-phase dehydroisomerisation of α-pinene and limonene in a fixed-bed reactor....

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCatalysts Vol. 11; no. 10; p. 1245
Main Authors Alsharif, Aliyah, Smith, Natalie, Kozhevnikova, Elena F, Kozhevnikov, Ivan V
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.10.2021
Subjects
Acids
Aromatic compounds
bifunctional catalysis
Catalysts
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering research
Chemical properties
Chemical reactions
Chemical synthesis
Dehydrogenation
Hydrogen
Isomerization
Limonene
Noble metals
p-Cymene
Production processes
Rearrangements (Chemistry)
Silica
Silicon dioxide
Spectrum analysis
Terephthalic acid
Terpenes
Vapor phases
Zinc oxide
α-pinene
United Kingdom
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Summary:Silica-supported zinc oxide possessing acid and dehydrogenation functions is an efficient, noble-metal-free bifunctional catalyst for the environment-friendly synthesis of p-Cymene from renewable monoterpene feedstock by gas-phase dehydroisomerisation of α-pinene and limonene in a fixed-bed reactor. The reaction involves acid-catalysed terpene isomerisation to p-menthadienes followed by dehydrogenation to form p-Cymene. Dehydroisomerisation of α-pinene produces p-Cymene with 90% yield at 100% conversion at 370 °C and WHSV = 0.01–0.020 h−1. The reaction with limonene gives a 100% p-Cymene yield at 325 °C and WHSV = 0.080 h−1. ZnO/SiO2 catalyst shows stable performance for over 70 h without co-feeding hydrogen.
ISSN:2073-4344
2073-4344
DOI:10.3390/catal11101245