Selective formation 2,6-diisopropyl naphthalene over mesoporous Al-MCM-48 catalysts

Vapour phase isopropylation of naphthalene (NAP) with isopropyl alcohol (IPA) was carried out over H-form of Al-MCM-48 catalysts with different nSi/nAl ratios. The feed molar ratio of 1:2:10 (NAP:IPA:CYH) and WHSV (5.36 h−1) were found to be the optimized conditions for good NAP conversion with selectivity of 2,6-diisopropylnaphthalene (2,6-DIPN). The effect of 2,6/2,7-DIPN ratio was also studied for catalysts with various nSi/nAl ratios and at different temperatures. Among the catalysts used in the present study, AlMCM-48 (25) showed a high NAP conversion and selectivity to 2,6-DIPN under the optimized reaction conditions.