The supported sulphated La2O3-ZrO2 on SBA-15 as a promising mesoporous solid superacid catalyst for alkenylation of p-xylene with phenylacetylene

Abstract

The well-dispersed supported sulphated La2O3-ZrO2 (SLZ) superacid catalysts on SBA-15 with loadings were prepared and applied in alkenylation of p-xylene with phenylacetylene. The amount of acidic sites increases with the enlarged loading, it reaches maximum at the loading of 25%, and then decreases while the loading is further increased. The increasing loading leads to a continuous decrease in specific surface area and pore volume. The optimized 25% SLZ/SBA-15 catalyst shows the outstanding catalytic performance, attributed to the more acidic sites and the not too low surface area and pore volume. The developed well-ordered mesoporous sulphated La2O3-ZrO2 solid superacid catalyst may be extended to diverse transformations.