Catalytic dehydrogenation and cracking of industrial dipentene over M/SBA-15 (M = Al, Zn) catalysts Original Research Article

Al- and Zn-containing mesoporous molecular sieves (SBA-15) were prepared by an impregnation method and were used as catalysts for the catalytic dehydrogenation and cracking of industrial dipentene, an important natural feedstock. The catalysts were characterized by X-Ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption/desorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (27Al MAS NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques. The characterization results suggest that the active components were introduced without changing the mesostructure of SBA-15. FT-IR revealed that Al/SBA-15 shows weak Brönsted acidity and strong Lewis acidity, while Zn/SBA-15 only possesses moderate Lewis acidity. Dehydrogenation and cracking products, such as toluene, were found in the dipentene conversion over Al/SBA-15, while for Zn/SBA-15, p-cymene was the major dehydrogenation product. Along with the strong Brönsted acidity and high cracking activity of HZSM-5, our results suggest that the reaction pathway is determined by the acidic sites. Stability tests showed the deactivation is also related to the acidity. The highest yield of p-cymene reaches to 86.7% on Zn/SBA-15 at 723 K.