Styrene from toluene by side chain alkylation over a novel solid acid-base catalyst

A novel solid acid-base catalyst with aluminum and nitrogen were prepared from aluminum and amine by using triblock copolymer Pluronic F127 as a template and resol as framework via evaporation induced organic–organic assembly method. The catalyst was characterized by UV–vis absorption spectra (UV–vis), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), the acid-base properties of the catalyst were determined by temperature programmed desorption (TPD) using CO2 and NH3 as probe molecules, and the side chain alkylation of toluene with methanol over the catalyst has been investigated. The results show that Cat–NH(C2H5)2 demonstrates the higher activity and selectivity, styrene yield reaches 44.9% and selectivity 97.6%. It is considered that the strength of base and distance of the specific surface acid-base pairs over the catalysts are favored to bimolecular side-chain alkylation reaction.

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• A novel solid acid-base catalyst containing N and Al atoms has been synthesized successfully.
• Styrene yield (44.9%) and selectivity (97.6%) can be achieved for side chain alkylation of toluene with methanol over the catalyst.
• For side chain alkylation of toluene, three crucial parameters of catalyst are the weak and/or middle acid sites, middle base sites and the befitting distance between acid and base sites.