Cooperative Adsorption: Solvating the Hofmann Elimination of Alkylamines

Unravelling Irreversible Adsorbate Thermodynamics through Adsorption-Assisted Desorption

Strongly bound surface species like alkylamines adsorbed on the Brønsted acid site of aluminosilicate zeolites exhibit negligible rates of molecular desorption, preventing them from achieving an equilibrated state on experimentally relevant time scales that limit the measurement of their adsorption thermodynamics. Through adsorption-assisted desorption, whereby distinct alkylamines facilitate desorption from Brønsted acid sites, we demonstrate that equilibrated states are achieved. Breakthrough adsorption measurements reveal that while 2-butylammonium on a Brønsted acid site is irreversibly adsorbed, it readily undergoes molecular desorption when exposed to a distinct alkylamine like 2-propanamine. As a result, two-adsorbate equilibrium was achieved when the Brønsted acid sites of aluminosilicate zeolites were exposed to a binary vapor-phase alkylamine mixture. By varying relative vapor-phase partial pressures and temperatures, we demonstrate the ability to experimentally measure the adsorption enthalpy and entropy of alkylammonium adsorbates on mostly isolated Brønsted acid sites in H-ZSM-5 (Si/Al = 140). A multiadsorbate Langmuir isotherm was found to quantitatively describe the coadsorption of alkylamines varying in size and basicity over a wide range of conditions through which the relative adsorption enthalpy and entropy of alkylamines were measured. Across a homologous family of sec-alkylamines (C3-C5) adsorbed on isolated Brønsted acid sites, a fixed contribution to the enthalpy (19 ± 4 kJ mol CH2-1) and entropy (25 ± 4 J mol CH2-1 K-1) of adsorption per methylene unit was found to exist, likely resulting from electrostatic interactions between the alkyl chain and the surrounding pore environment.

Ester Reduction with H2 on Bifunctional Metal-Acid Catalysts: Implications of Metal Identity on Rates and Selectivities

Esters reduce to form ethers and alcohols on contact with metal nanoparticles supported on Brønsted acidic faujasite (M-FAU) that cleave C-O bonds by hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis pathways. Rates and selectivities for each pathway depend on the metal identity (M=Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, Rh, Pd, and Pt). Pt-FAU gives propyl acetate consumption rates up to 100 times greater than other M-FAU catalysts and provides an ethyl propyl ether selectivity of 34 %. Measured formation rates, kinetic isotope effects, and site titrations suggest that ester reduction involves a bifunctional mechanism that implicates the stepwise addition of H* atoms to the carbonyl to form hemiacetals on the metal sites, followed by hemiacetal diffusion to a nearby Brønsted acid site to dehydrate to ethers or decompose to alcohol and aldehyde. The rates of reduction of propyl acetate appear to be determined by the H* addition to the carbonyl and by the C-O cleavage of hemiacetal.

In situ FTIR spectroscopy study to reveal Ga-modified ZSM-5 for boosting isobutene amination

In situ FTIR reveals the synergistic effect of Si–OH–Ga and Si–OH–Al active sites.