Effect of the acidic strength on the vapor phase Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime over the MFI zeolite: an embedded ONIOM study

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The mechanism and energetic profile of the Beckmann rearrangement reaction of cyclohexanone oxime to epsilon-caprolactam catalyzed by the H-[Al]-MFI and H-[B]-MFI zeolites were investigated by both the bare cluster and the ONIOM models at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) and the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p):MNDO levels of theory, respectively. In order to improve the energetic properties and take into account the whole zeolite framework effect, single point calculations are undertaken at the embedded ONIOM2 schemes; MP2/6-311G(d,p):HF/6-31G(d) with an additional long-range electrostatic potential from the extended zeolite framework. The reaction mechanism of the Beckmann rearrangement over the acid site of zeolites consists of three steps: the 1,2 H shift, the rearrangement and the tautomerization. The activation energies for the Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime on the H-[Al]-MFI zeolite are calculated to be 31.46, 16.15 and 18.95 kcal mol(-1), for the first, second and third steps, respectively, whereas in the H-[B]-MFI zeolite, the energy barriers for each step of the reaction are 24.33, 7.46 and 20.43 kcal mol(-1), respectively. The rate-determining step of the reaction is the first step, which is the transformation from the N-ended cyclohexanone oxime adsorption complex and the O-ended one. These results signify the important role that the acid strength of zeolites plays in altering the energy profile of the reaction. The results further indicate that the weak Brønsted acid sites in the [B]-MFI zeolite could better catalyze the Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime than the strong acid sites in the [Al]-MFI zeolite, as compared with the quantitatively low activation energy of most steps. However, the turnover reaction of the H-[B]-MFI zeolite might be delayed by the quantitatively high desorption energy of the product as compared to the adsorption energy of the reactant.