Acid site density effects in zeolite-catalyzed 1-butene skeletal isomerization

• Acid site density effects in 1-butene skeletal isomerization over H-HPM-1 are examined.
• Changes (⩽ 0.5 per unit cell) in framework Al atoms lead to notable changes in both conversion and selectivity.
• H-HPM-1 with a framework Si/Al ratio of 350 is best among the catalysts tested to date.

We have investigated the effect of acid site density on the catalytic performance of high-silica (50 ⩽ Si/Al ⩽ 380) H-HPM-1 zeolite in the 1-butene skeletal isomerization. Changes (⩽ 0.5) in the number of framework Al atoms, and thus of Brønsted acid sites, per unit cell (60 tetrahedral atoms) led to striking variations in both 1-butene conversion and isobutene selectivity. Combining isobutene yield with catalyst durability, H-HPM-1 with a framework Si/Al ratio of 350 was found to perform better than any of the catalysts studied for this reaction thus far.

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