Methanol carbonylation over RhY zeolite was studied kinetically at 428 to 473 K under atmospheric pressure. For low conversions of methanol, methyl acetate was the only carbonylation product observed. The reaction was first order in methyl iodide and zero order in both methanol and carbon monoxide. The apparent activation energy was 5.65 × 104 J/mol in the temperature range studied. Carbonylations in the ethanol-methyl iodide, methanol-ethyl iodide, and deuterated methanol-methyl iodide systems were studied to clarify the reaction mechanism. From these results, the reaction mechanism for this carbonylation is proposed as follows: (i) the oxidative addition of methyl iodide to an active Rh site, (ii) the insertion of carbon monoxide into the methyl-Rh bond, (iii) the formation of methyl acetate by methanolysis of the acetyl-Rh bond, (iv) the reductive dissociation of hydrogen iodide to reform the active site, and (v) the regeneration of methyl iodide by the reaction of hydrogen iodide with methanol. This reaction mechanism is quite similar to that proposed for the homogeneous rhodium complex catalyst.
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