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Direct Alkane-Benzene Coupling Reactions with Bifunctional Zeolite-Encapsulated Metal Catalysts with Subnanoscale
Hongtao Wang1, Minghao Gao1, Wenying Li1
1Engineering Research Center of Advanced Rare-Earth Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Journal of the American Chemical Society
|May 28, 2026
Summary
A new platinum catalyst in MEL-type zeolite enables direct coupling of benzene and alkanes for efficient alkylbenzene production. This process reduces energy consumption and simplifies design compared to traditional methods.
Area of Science:
- Catalysis
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Alkylbenzene production traditionally involves energy-intensive, multi-step processes like alkane dehydrogenation and benzene alkylation.
- Current methods suffer from high energy consumption and complex process designs, necessitating more efficient alternatives.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a bifunctional catalyst for the direct coupling of benzene and C2-C4 alkanes.
- To optimize catalyst properties for enhanced productivity, selectivity, and stability in alkylbenzene synthesis.
Main Methods:
- Design of a bifunctional platinum (Pt) catalyst confined within an aluminosilicate MEL-type zeolite.
- Optimization of MEL zeolite morphology, Pt cluster characteristics, and Pt-acid site interaction.
- Evaluation of catalytic performance in terms of productivity, selectivity, and long-term stability.
Main Results:
- The optimized Pt/MEL zeolite catalyst demonstrated record-high productivity for alkylbenzenes from direct benzene and alkane coupling.
- High selectivity towards desired alkylbenzene products was achieved.
- The catalyst exhibited excellent stability, maintaining performance over 1000 hours through repeated reaction-regeneration cycles.
Conclusions:
- The developed bifunctional Pt/MEL zeolite catalyst offers a more energy-efficient and simplified route for alkylbenzene production.
- Catalyst optimization, including support morphology and metal-support interaction, is crucial for superior performance.
- This approach presents a promising advancement in commodity chemical synthesis.
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