Rapid tool for evaluation of acido‐basic properties of solid catalysts at high reaction temperature conditions using 2-propanol and benzyl alcohol as probe molecules

[Display omitted] •Automated bench-top unit for evaluation of acido‐basic properties of solid catalyst.•Transformation of alcohols studied at high temperature on four different catalysts.•Benzyl alcohol is very reactive even on low number of active sites on catalysts.•Benzyl alcohol forms products specific to either acidic or basic sites.•Benzyl alcohol is more suitable model probe molecule in comparison with IPA. We introduce a simple, fully automated and practical methodology to measure the relative activity of heterogeneous catalysts using probe molecules at operating temperature conditions employed in industrial processes. The applicability of this approach was demonstrated by studying the conversion and selectivity of model probe molecules, isopropanol and benzyl alcohol reactions at 250−450 °C, on γ-Al2O3, MM clay, ZnO and Fe2O3. Catalyst was packed into the bed of in-house fabricated bench-top unit, automated vapor generation unit was used to pass probe molecules through the bed, and the products were sampled by on-line GC. Amongst the probe molecules, benzyl alcohol was found to be more suitable for evaluation of surface acido‐basic properties, as it exhibited high conversion at all the studied temperatures, along with concomitant formation of toluene and benzaldehyde based on the relative presence of surface active sites, acidic sites yield toluene, and strong basic sites yield benzaldehyde.