Mesoporous silico-aluminophosphates derived from microporous precursors as promising catalyst for hydroisomerization

•A series of MESO-SAPO-37 were synthesized using microporous SAPO-37 precursors.•MESO-SAPO-37 possessed strong Brönsted and Lewis acidtic sites.•MESO-SAPO-37 showed highest conversion and good selectivity to branched isomers.

A series of mesoporous silicoaluminophosphates (MESO-SAPOs) with different silica contents were synthesized using the microporous precursors of SAPO-37 (MESO-SAPO-37). Various analytical and spectroscopic techniques revealed the presence of mesoporous and microporous properties of the materials. The resulting materials were applied to vapor-phase hydroisomerization of 1-octene to afford the corresponding branched alkenes in good yields under ambient conditions. The catalytic activity of MESO-SAPO-37 was compared to those of other mesoporous analogs obtained from SAPO-34 and SAPO-5 precursors. Among all the synthesized materials, MESO-SAPO-37 showed the best catalytic activity owing to the presence of faujasite units.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (113 K)Download as PowerPoint slide