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Multi‐site Cooperativity in Alkali‐Metal‐Exchanged Faujasites for the Production of Biomass‐Derived Aromatics
Author(s) -
Rohling Roderigh Y.,
Hensen Emiel J. M.,
Pidko Evgeny A.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201701058
Subject(s) - faujasite , catalysis , chemistry , alkali metal , zeolite , cooperativity , cycloaddition , furan , reactivity (psychology) , substituent , green chemistry , organic chemistry , inorganic chemistry , computational chemistry , reaction mechanism , medicine , biochemistry , alternative medicine , pathology
Abstract The catalytic Diels–Alder cycloaddition–dehydration (DACD) reaction of furanics with ethylene is a promising route to bio‐derived aromatics. The reaction can be catalyzed by alkali‐metal‐exchanged faujasites. Herein, the results of periodic DFT calculations based on accurate structural models of alkali‐metal‐exchanged zeolites are presented, revealing the fundamental roles that confinement and the nature of the exchangeable cations in zeolite micropores have in the performance of faujasite‐based catalysts in the DAC D reaction. Special attention is devoted to analyzing the effect of functional substituents on furanic substrates (furan, 2,5‐dimethylfuran, 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid) on the catalyst behavior. It is demonstrated that the conventional reactivity theories of the Diels–Alder chemistry based on simplistic single‐site Lewis acidity and substituent effects do not apply if catalytic processes in the multiple‐site confined environment of zeolite nanopores are considered. The nature and cooperativity of the interactions between the multiple exchangeable cations and the substrates determine the reaction energetics of the elementary steps involved in the DACD process.