Effects of Si/Al Ratio on the Distribution of Framework Al and on the Rates of Alkane Monomolecular Cracking and Dehydrogenation in H‑MFI

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of Si/Al ratio on the locations of exchangeable cations in H-MFI and on the monomolecular cracking and dehydrogenation reactions of n-butane. On the basis of UV–visible spectroscopic analysis of Co(II) exchanged into MFI, it was inferred that the fraction of Co(II) (and, by extension, Brønsted protons) located at channel intersections relative to straight and sinusoidal channels increases with increasing Al content. Concurrently, turnover frequencies for all monomolecular reactions, and the selectivities to dehydrogenation versus cracking and to terminal cracking versus central cracking, generally increased. The changes in selectivity with Al content are consistent with the finding that the transition-state geometry for dehydrogenation is bulky and resembles a product state, and should therefore exhibit a stronger preference to occur at channel intersections relative to cracking. Increases in turnover frequencies are attributed partly to increases in intrinsic activation entropies that compensate for concurrent increases in intrinsic activation energies, most strongly for dehydrogenation and terminal cracking, resulting in increased selectivity to these reactions at higher Al content. This interpretation contrasts with the view that intrinsic activation barriers are constant. It is also observed that isobutene inhibits the rate of n-butane dehydrogenation. Theoretical calculations indicate that this effect originates from adsorption of isobutene at the channel intersections. Because cracking reaction rates are not affected by the presence of isobutene, this result suggests that the preference of dehydrogenation to occur at channel intersections is much stronger than the preference for cracking to occur at these locations.