Basic activity of Y zeolite containing alkylammonium cations in Knoevenagel condensation

•Alkylammonium cation exchange was restricted to the supercavity of the faujasites.•The highest alkylammonium cation exchange degree decreases with the radius of the cation and carbon chain length of the organic cation.•The basic activity of FAU catalysts shows a good correlation with XPS O1s results.•The highest activities of FAU catalysts result from high basicity and micropore volume.

This paper compares the catalytic activity of Y zeolite containing alkylammonium cations in the Knoevenagel condensation. For steric reasons, the exchange of Na+ for alkylammonium cations was restricted to the faujasite supercavity, and the degree of ion exchange decreased with the radius of the organic cation. The basicity of the catalysts was analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the Knoevenagel condensation reaction, with good correlation obtained between the results of the two methods. The best catalytic activity was observed for the Y zeolite exchanged using the butylammonium cation. The better performance of this catalyst was attributed to increased accessibility of the reactants to the catalytic sites.

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