Novel efficient mesoporous solid acid catalyst UDCaT-4: dehydration of 2-propanol and alkylation of mesitylene

A novel mesoporous solid acid catalyst named UDCaT-4 was synthesized by incorporating superacidic centers of persulfated alumina and zirconia into highly ordered and well-defined hexagonal mesoporous silica. The catalyst is well characterized, and its properties are compared with those of bulk persulfated alumina and zirconia (PAZ) by FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area, pore size analysis, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and ammonia temperature-programmed desorption. UDCaT-4 is more acidic than PAZ. The dehydration processes of 2-propanol, diisopropyl ether, and n-propanol were studied independently including a mixture of n-propanol and 2-propanol to throw light on kinetics and mechanism. For alkylation of mesitylene with 2-propanol, UDCaT-4 exhibits superior catalytic activity in comparison with PAZ and also it shows remarkable stability toward coke formation. Kinetic interpretations of the observed rate data are presented for all reactions, and mechanistic models are developed. The results are novel.