Codimerisation of styrene and α-methylstyrene in the presence of zeolites Original Research Article

The reaction of styrene with α-methylstyrene has been studied over Y, Beta and ZSM-12 zeolites at 80–120 °C in the presence or absence of chlorobenzene. Homo- and codimers of styrene and α-methylstyrene were the main reaction products. The yield of dimers and their structure depends on zeolite type and the experimental conditions. Dimers were formed with greater selectively over zeolite HZSM-12 (S = 80–83%), for which the structural features promote the synthesis of linear compounds. In the presence of the zeolites HY and HBeta, cyclic homo- and codimers were the predominant products. The yield of dimers increases with increased reaction temperature and catalyst concentration, and in the presence of solvent. All zeolites investigated showed high codimerisation activity on styrene and α-methylstyrene at 120 °C.