Abstract
The contributions of Burtron H. Davis to the understanding and description of alcohol dehydration over metal oxide catalysts, is discussed and applied to process improvement and process synthesis. Some of the key findings from his work are that the dehydration mechanism over metal oxides involves a concerted removal of OH and adjacent H, that weakly basic metal oxides are sensitive to the acidity of the H abstracted during dehydration, and that anti-Saytzeff elimination is possible with >80 % selectivity over weakly basic metal oxides (In2O3, Y2O3, ZrO2, Eu2O3 and ThO2). These findings were applied to show how the dehydration step of the industrial Fischer–Tropsch based process for 1-heptene to 1-octene conversion can be improved through the use of a weakly basic metal oxide catalyst with low hydration activity. New processes were also suggested for the production of 1-octene from more commonly available feed materials, such as the C8 fraction of natural gas condensate and petroleum naphtha. These processes employed weakly basic metal oxide catalysts with high hydration activity.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.