Comprehensive study on selective dehydrochlorination of 2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene over carbon-based catalysts and catalyst deactivation

Abstract

3,3,3-trifluoropropyne (HFY-2223tz) is a novel refrigerant with great physicochemical properties. Though preparation of HFY-2223tz from halogenated olefins is theoretically effective, it remains great challenges for dehydrohalogenation from halogenated olefins, limiting the detailed knowledge. Here, we established a facile investigation to explore the gas-phase dehydrochlorination reaction of 2‑chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene (HCFO-1233xf) over various halides (Na, K, Rb, Cs) supported active carbon (AC) catalysts. The CsF was concluded as the optimal active component with best dehydrochlorination selectivity and conversion of HCFO-1233xf. The CO2-TPD results illustrated that dehydrochlorination of HCFO-1233xf proceeded through E1cB mechanism. Mechanism study revealed the evolution of side-products including (Z/E)-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropylene, 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropylene, (Z/E)-1‑chloro‑3,3,3-trifluoroproene, and 3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-ene, etc. However, observable deactivation of CsF catalyst was noticed, which, according to combined XRD and XPS results and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, was attributed to the F/Cl exchange between HCFO-1233xf and catalyst, leading to rapid fluorine consumption. This work thus provides basic knowledge about heterogeneous catalytic synthesis of HFY-2223tz from dehydrohalogenation of halogenated olefins.