(445a) C2 Oxygenates from Syngas: Understanding and Improving Methanol Carbonylation Using Modified Mordenite Catalysts
AIChE Annual Meeting
2018
2018 AIChE Annual Meeting
Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division
Catalysis for C1 Chemistry I: Methanol Formation and Upgrading
Wednesday, October 31, 2018 - 8:00am to 8:18am
The carbonylation of methanol suffers from deactivation and hydrocarbon formation occurring concurrently on acid zeolites. Mordenites contain acid sites in 12 membered rings which catalyze carbonylation, but also catalyze hydrocarbon formation through trimethyl oxonium cation intermediates3. Acid sites in the 8 membered rings of the zeolite structure also catalyze the carbonylation reaction, however do not contribute to hydrocarbon formation. Selectively poisoning the sites in the 12 membered rings over the 8 membered rings improves selectivity and stability. The contribution of this work is a selective cation-free poison that is air-calcination stable and selectively blocks sites that produce hydrocarbons over carbonylation sites. Reactivity studies, variation in synthetic conditions and precursors, and catalyst characterization are used to understand and improve the performance in the conversion of syngas to C2 oxygenates with nearly 90% selectivity.
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3 Boronat, M., Martinez, C. & Corma, A. Mechanistic differences between methanol and dimethyl ether carbonylation in side pockets and large channels of mordenite. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 13, 2603-2612, doi:10.1039/C0CP01996H (2011).