Acylation of anisole with acetic anhydride using ZSM-5 catalysts: Effect of ZSM-5 particle size in the nanoscale range

The current paper reports on the activity of nanocrystalline ZSM-5 in the liquid phase acylation of anisole with acetic anhydride. Under the optimum reaction conditions the performance of ZSM-5 catalysts having different particle sizes were tested. It was found that smaller size crystals exhibit highest activity, which is due to the increased external surface of smaller crystal.