A new efficient catalyst UDCaT-1 for the alkylation of ethylbenzene with ethanol to diethylbenzene

Abstract

Vapour phase alkylation of ethylbenzene with ethanol to diethylbenzene is industrially relevant. Diethylbenzene is an important raw material for the conversion to divinyl benzene monomer. Conventionally it is prepared from diacetophenone by reduction. It is also prepared by vapour-phase alkylation of ethylbenzene with ethylene using zeolites as the catalyst. The current work dealt with the alkylation of ethylbenzene with ethanol using UDCaT-1 as the catalyst, which is a synergistic combination of hexagonal mesoporous silica (HMS) and sulphate modified zirconia materials. There is no need to use absolute ethanol; dilute ethanol can also be effectively used. UDCaT-1 was found to be more active and selective in comparison with other acid catalysts used. Kinetic interpretation has been made by studying the important process parameters using UDCaT-1 as the catalyst. A complete theoretical and experimental analysis is presented.