Mesoporous Beta Zeolite Catalysts for Benzylation of Naphthalene: Effect of Pore Structure and Acidity

To improve the catalytic performance of zeolite catalysts in reactions involving bulky molecules, a series of mesoporous Beta zeolite were prepared using organic functionalized fumed silica as the silicon source, which were thoroughly characterized in terms of porosity and acidity. The peaks in X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed broadening, and the external surface area and mesoporosity increased progressively when the content of organic functionalization increased. An infrared (IR) spectroscopy study of adsorbed probe molecules, including pyridine (Py-IR), 2,6-ditertbutylpyridine (DTBPy-IR) and pivalonitrile (Pn-IR), showed that the improvement of mesoporosity increased the accessibility of acidic sites. In the catalytic benzylation of naphthalene with benzyl chloride (BC) over the mesoporous Beta zeolite catalysts, the conversion of BC was significantly increased when the accessibility of Brönsted acid sites improved. The increase of mesoporosity not only improved the diffusion ability of the reactants and products, but also increased the accessibility of acid sites, which greatly enhanced the activity of the mesoporous Beta zeolite catalysts. It is highlighted that the interdependence of mesoporosity, acid type, acid concentration, and strength of the mesoporous Beta zeolites on the catalytic performance in the benzylation of naphthalene with BC was comprehensively studied.