Effect of the brønsted acid site strength on the cracking and dehydrogenating properties in propane conversion evidence for the soft-soft/hard-hard acid-base interaction concept Original Research Article

The effect of varying the zeolite structure on the activity and selectivity of propane conversion via dehydrogenation and cracking was examined together with the effect of the exchange level within a given zeolite type. It was observed that the overall activity increased with the acid strength on the one hand while, on the other hand, the selectivity towards dehydrogenation decreased. The data obtained in this work well fitted the soft-soft and hard-hard acid-base interaction model as leading to dehydrogenation and cracking respectively.