Influence of the nature of the rare earth element in rare earth orthophosphate used for light alcohol dehydration

- Rare earth orthophosphates are extremely efficient catalysts for light alcohols dehydration.
- Catalytic properties of the phosphates appear mainly to depend on the nature of the rare earth element.
- The best catalysts presented moderately strong Brønsted and Lewis acid sites and only small quantities of weak basic sites.
- A good correlation was observed between the Lewis acidity and the rate of ethanol conversion.