Comparative study on the acidic and catalytic properties of AlMSU-2- and AlMCM-41-like samples: both synthesized from the same zeolite-like precursor

The objective of this work is to give a comparative characterization of the three-dimensional (3D) MSU-2 and unidimensional (1D) MCM-41-like aluminosilicates, in particular with respect to acidity and catalytic properties in 1,3,5-triisopropylbenzene cracking. Mesoporous AlMSU-2 with wormhole but uniform pores and large surface area, previously obtainable only from silicon alkoxides, has been successfully prepared from pre-assembled zeolite-like units in the presence of nonionic octyl-phenyl polyethylene ether (TX-100) as template through a N0(N+)X−I+ pathway in strong acid media. For comparison purpose, hexagonally ordered AlMCM-41 was also synthesized from the same inorganic precursor with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as template under mild basic conditions. Catalytic results in bulky 1,3,5-triisopropylbenzene cracking showed that the 3D AlMSU-2 was much more active than the hexagonally packed AlMCM-41 though both materials were synthesized from the same precursor and presented similar acid strength.