Investigation of the preparation and catalytic activity of supported Mo, W, and Re oxides as heterogeneous catalysts in olefin metathesis

Performance Descriptors for Catalysts Based on Molybdenum, Tungsten, or Rhenium Oxides for Metathesis of Ethylene with 2-Butenes to Propene

The metathesis of ethylene with 2-butenes to propene is an established large-scale process. However, the fundamentals behind in situ transformation of supported WOx , MoOx , or ReOx species into catalytically active metal-carbenes and the intrinsic activity of the latter as well as the role of metathesis-inactive cocatalysts are still unsolved. This is detrimental for catalyst development and process optimization. In this study, we provide the required essentials derived from steady-state isotopic transient kinetic analysis. For the first time, the steady-state concentration, the lifetime, and the intrinsic reactivity of metal carbenes were determined. The obtained results can be directly used for the design and the preparation of metathesis-active catalysts and cocatalysts, thereby opening up possibilities for optimizing propene productivity.

Tuning metathesis performance of molybdenum oxide-based catalyst by silica support acidity modulation and high temperature pretreatment

Molybdenum oxide-based catalysts containing 5 wt. % of Mo obtained by simple impregnation of silica mesoporous support were studied in olefin metathesis reaction at 50 °C. Effect of support modification...

Propane to olefins tandem catalysis: a selective route towards light olefins production

On-purpose synthetic routes for propylene production have emerged in the last couple of decades in response to the increasing demand for plastics and a shift to shale gas feedstocks for ethylene production. Propane dehydrogenation (PDH), an efficient and selective route to produce propylene, saw booming investments to fill the so-called propylene gap. In the coming years, however, a fluctuating light olefins market will call for flexibility in end-product of PDH plants. This can be achieved by combining PDH with propylene metathesis in a single step, propane to olefins (PTO), which allows production of mixtures of propylene, ethylene and butenes, which are important chemical building blocks for a.o. thermoplastics. The metathesis technology introduced by Phillips in the 1960s and mostly operated in reverse to produce propylene, is thus undergoing a renaissance of scientific and technological interest in the context of the PTO reaction. In this review, we will describe the state-of-the-art of PDH, propylene metathesis and PTO reactions, highlighting the open challenges and opportunities in the field. While the separate PDH and metathesis reactions have been extensively studied in the literature, understanding the whole PTO tandem-catalysis system will require new efforts in theoretical modelling and operando spectroscopy experiments, to gain mechanistic insights into the combined reactions and finally improve catalytic selectivity and stability for on-purpose olefins production.

Probing Molybdenum Active Sites during In Situ Photoreduction of the Mo6+/SiO2 Catalyst

The photoreduction of the Mo⁶⁺/SiO₂ system with CO was investigated in situ, employing a recently developed experimental setup allowing for the acquisition of transmission FT-IR spectra under simultaneous UV irradiation. Carbon monoxide, besides acting as a reducing agent in such processes, is also a useful probe molecule able to detect coordinatively unsaturated sites exposed on the surface. The unprecedented quality of the spectroscopic data, obtained as a function of the reduction time, allowed us to better rationalize the different mechanisms previously proposed for the photoreduction process. These results, coupled with UV-Vis spectroscopic data, shed light on the oxidation state and surface structure of supported molybdenum species, which are key active sites for several important reactions, such as selective oxidation, polymerization, hydrodesulfurization, epoxidation and olefin metathesis.

Remarkably enhanced performance of the metathesis reaction of ethylene and 1-butene to propene using one-step prepared W-MCM-41 catalysts

Highly dispersed tungsten species with an isolated tetrahedral WO x species structure are substantially beneficial for the metathesis reaction of ethylene and 1-butene to propene. The conventional impregnation method always leads to the formation of inactive crystalline WO3 thereby notably decreasing the amount of active sites. In this study, we synthesized a highly dispersed W-MCM-41 catalyst using the one-step precipitation method with a Si/W ratio of 30. The prepared catalyst showed excellent catalytic performance with a 1-butene conversion of 92.7% and a propene selectivity of 80.8%. In contrast, the impregnated catalyst with the same W loading as the one-step precipitation method resulted in a much lower 1-butene conversion of 76.5% and propene selectivity of 34.1%. Various characterization techniques including XRD, XPS, ICP-OES, UV-vis DRS, TEM, and Raman spectroscopy were applied to confirm that the one-step precipitation method can efficiently prepare well-dispersed W-MCM-41 catalysts with the desired structure in spite of the fact that the ideal dispersive structure was strongly dependent of the Si/W ratio and stirring time of the reaction mixture of tungstic acid and TEOS. In addition, the introduction of an upstream catalyst onto the W-MCM-41 catalyst could not obviously improve the 1-butene conversion and propene selectivity, which might be due to fast 1-butene isomerization easily occurring on the abundant Si-OH of the W-MCM-41 catalyst. This work provides new insights for the design of metathesis catalysts and reaction processes to efficiently convert ethylene and 1-butene into propene.

SBA-15 as a Support for Effective Olefin Metathesis Catalysts

Olefin metathesis is the catalytic transformation of olefinic substrates, finding a wide range of applications in organic synthesis. The mesoporous molecular sieve Santa Barbara Amorphous (SBA-15) has proven to be an excellent support for metathesis catalysts thanks to its regular mesoporous structure, high BET area, and large pore volume. A survey of catalysts consisting of (i) molybdenum and tungsten oxides on SBA-15, and (ii) molybdenum and ruthenium organometallic complexes (Schrock and Grubbs-type carbenes) on SBA-15 is provided together with their characterization and catalytic performance in various metathesis reactions. The comparison with catalysts based on other supports demonstrates the high quality of the mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15 as an advanced catalyst support.

Kinetic Modeling of Catalytic Olefin Cracking and Methanol-to-Olefins (MTO) over Zeolites: A Review

The increasing demand for lower olefins requires new production routes besides steam cracking and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC). Furthermore, less energy consumption, more flexibility in feed and a higher influence on the product distribution are necessary. In this context, catalytic olefin cracking and methanol-to-olefins (MTO) gain in importance. Here, the undesired higher olefins can be catalytically converted and, for methanol, the possibility of a green synthesis route exists. Kinetic modeling of these processes is a helpful tool in understanding the reactivity and finding optimum operating points; however, it is also challenging because reaction networks for hydrocarbon interconversion are rather complex. This review analyzes different deterministic kinetic models published in the literature since 2000. After a presentation of the underlying chemistry and thermodynamics, the models are compared in terms of catalysts, reaction setups and operating conditions. Furthermore, the modeling methodology is shown; both lumped and microkinetic approaches can be found. Despite ZSM-5 being the most widely used catalyst for these processes, other catalysts such as SAPO-34, SAPO-18 and ZSM-23 are also discussed here. Finally, some general as well as reaction-specific recommendations for future work on modeling of complex reaction networks are given.

MoO3 on zeolites MCM-22, MCM-56 and 2D-MFI as catalysts for 1-octene metathesis

Highly active olefin metathesis catalysts were prepared by thermal spreading MoO₃ and/or MoO₂(acac)₂ on MWW zeolites (MCM-22, delaminated MCM-56) and on two-dimensional MFI (all in NH₄⁺ form). The catalysts‘ activities were tested in the metathesis of neat 1-octene (as an example of a longer chain olefin) at 40 °C. Catalysts with 6 wt % or 5 wt % of Mo were used. The acidic character of the supports had an important effect on both the catalyst activity and selectivity. The catalyst activity increases in the order 6MoO₃/HZSM-5(25) (Si/Al = 25) << 6MoO₂(acac)₂/MCM-22(70) < 6MoO₃/2D-MFI(26) < 6MoO₃/MCM-56(13) < 6MoO₃/MCM-22(28) reflecting both the enhancing effect of the supports‘ acidity and accessibility of the catalytic species on the surface. On the other hand the supports‘ acidity decreases the selectivity to the main metathesis product C14 due to an acid-catalyzed double bond isomerization (followed by cross metathesis) and oligomerization. 6MoO₃/2D-MFI(26) with a lower concentration of the acidic centres resulting in catalysts of moderate activity but with the highest selectivity.

Heterogeneous catalysts for gas-phase conversion of ethylene to higher olefins

The reduced availability of propylene and C4 products from steam crackers continues to provoke on-purpose technologies for light olefins such that almost 30% of propylene in 2025 is predicted to be supplied from unconventional sources. Furthermore, the recent discoveries of natural gas reservoirs have urged interest in the conversion of surplus alkanes and alkenes, especially ethane and ethylene. The direct conversion of ethylene to propylene or a combination of value-added chemicals, including butylenes and oligomers in the range of gasoline and diesel fuel, provides the capability of responding to the fluctuations in the balance between supply and demand of the main petrochemicals. A comprehensive review of heterogeneous catalysts for the gas-phase conversion pathways is presented here in terms of catalytic performances (ethylene conversion and product selectivities), productivities, lifetimes, active sites, physicochemical properties, mechanisms, influence of operating conditions, deactivation and some unresolved/less-advanced aspects of the field. The addressed catalysts cover both zeolitic materials and transition metals, such as tungsten, molybdenum, rhenium and nickel. Efforts in both experimental and theoretical studies are taken into account. Aside from the potential fields of progress, the review reveals very promising performances for the emerging technologies to produce propylene, a mixture of propylene and butenes, or a liquid fuel from ethylene.

Evaluation of the molecular poisoning phenomenon of W sites in ZSM-5 via synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction

The traditional investigation of complex catalyst poisoning phenomena is in the operation level: poisonings commonly attributed to macroscopic coke deposition and particle size change, etc. Here, we demonstrate that high-resolution SXRD can reveal the structure of the organic molecule-active site complex in a 3-D environment, leading to an understanding of the poisoning mechanism at the molecular level.

Investigation on converting 1-butene and ethylene into propene via metathesis reaction over W-based catalysts

Supported W catalysts were extensively investigated for the conversion of 1-butene and ethylene into propene by metathesis reaction. The performance of catalysts was compared by using unsupported WO3, pure SBA-15, supported W/SBA-15 with different W loadings, varied calcination temperatures, and by changing the pretreatment gas atmosphere. The above catalytic results could be employed to deduce the reaction mechanism combined with characterization techniques such as BET, XRD, UV-vis DRS, Raman, pyridine-IR, XPS, and H2-TPR. In this study, over the investigated W/SBA-15 catalysts, the results showed that the silanol group (Si-OH) in SBA-15 could act as a weak Brønsted acid site for 1-butene isomerization. However, the metathesis reaction was catalyzed by W-carbene species. The initially formed W-carbenes (W[double bond, length as m-dash]CH-CH3) as active sites were derived from the partially reduced isolated tetrahedral WO x species which contained W[double bond, length as m-dash]O or W-OH bonds in W5+ species as corresponding Lewis or Brønsted acid sites. Furthermore, the W/SBA-15 being pretreated by H2O led to a complete loss of the metathesis activity. This was mainly due to the sintering of isolated WO x species to form an inactive crystalline WO3 phase as demonstrated by XRD patterns. On the other hand, the reduction of WO x species remarkably suppressed by H2O pretreatment was also responsible for the metathesis deactivation. This study provides molecular level mechanisms for the several steps involved in the propene production, including 1-butene isomerization, W-carbene formation, and metathesis reaction.

Innovative Sol-Gel Routes for the Bottom-Up Preparation of Heterogeneous Catalysts

Heterogeneous catalysts can be prepared by different methods offering various levels of control on the final properties of the solid. In this account, we exemplify bottom-up preparation routes that are based on the sol-gel chemistry and allow to tailor some decisive properties of solid catalysts. First, an emulsion templating strategy is shown to lead to macrocellular self-standing monoliths with a macroscopic 3D structure. The latter can be used as catalyst or catalyst supports in flow chemistry, without requiring any subsequent shaping step. Second, the aerosol-assisted sol-gel process allows for the one-step and continuous production of porous mixed oxides. Tailored textural properties can be obtained together with an excellent control on composition and homogeneity. Third, the application of non-hydrolytic sol-gel routes, in the absence of water, leads to mixed oxides with outstanding textural properties and with peculiar surface chemistry. In all cases, the resulting catalytic performance can be correlated with the specificities of the preparation routes presented. This is exemplified in catalytic reactions in the fields of biomass conversion, petro chemistry, enantioselective organic synthesis, and air pollution mitigation.