Preparation of isosorbide by dehydration of sorbitol on hierarchical Beta zeolites under solvent-free conditions

• Published in: Microporous and mesoporous materials 2024-03, Vol.368, p.113009, Article 113009
• Main Authors: Shi, Yilin, Yang, Jinhai, Guo, Jiong, Wang, Shiwei, Yuan, Danping, Zhao, Ning, Xiao, Fukui, Gao, Jianfeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Dehydration; Hierarchical beta zeolite; Isosorbide; Solvent-free; Sorbitol
• ISSN: 1387-1811; 1873-3093
• DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2024.113009

A series of hierarchical Beta zeolites (Q-β) were synthesized using the silanization template method. The characterization results suggested that the pore structure and acidity of the catalysts were influenced by varying the Si/Al molar ratio in the precursor. For the reaction of dehydration of sorbitol to isosorbide, the Q-β-46(8) catalyst exhibited significantly improved catalytic performance with a yield of up to 83 % after 12 h of reaction at moderate temperature (170 °C), higher than any other zeolite catalysts. The catalyst maintained good catalytic performance after five cycles. The unique activity might be attributed to its excellent secondary porosity (77.66 %), higher Brønsted acidic site concentration (63.18 μmol/g) and BAC/LAC ratio (0.172). [Display omitted] •Hierarchical β-zeolite catalysts were prepared from silanized proto-zeolite units.•The catalysts had 3D pore structure with Brønsted and Lewis acidic sites.•The better sorbitol dehydration to isosorbide activity might due to more mesopores.•The Brønsted acidic sites was more important for the reaction.