Citronellal cyclisation over heteropoly acid supported on modified montmorillonite catalyst: effects of acidity and pore structure on catalytic activity

Abdul Karim Shah*, Sungsoo Park, Hassnain Abbas Khan, Umair Hassan Bhatti, Praveen Kumar, Abdul Waheed Bhutto, Yeung Ho Park

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Citronellal cyclisation to isopulegol is an important intermediate step in the production of menthol. Several heteropoly acids (PTA) supported on modified montmorillonite (MM) catalysts were synthesized and then tested in cyclisation reactions. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, ICP-OES, FTIR, N2 sorption, NH3-TPD, pyridine adsorption, amine titration and FE-SEM techniques. Effects of post-treatment were studied on montmorillonite pore structure, acidity and catalytic activity. The catalytic activity and isopulegol selectivity improved with acid-treatment and PTA loading. The amount of Lewis acidity of montmorillonite was enhanced with acid-treatment and PTA impregnation. In cyclisation, highest catalytic activity (31.87 mmol cat g−1 min−1) was achieved with 96% isopulegol yield in the use of 20% PTA-MM catalyst. The highest catalytic activity and selectivity were obtained in the presence of higher acidity and strong Lewis acidic sites, whereas effects of pore structure blockage seemed minor. The catalytic activity further decreased with the loss of active acidic sites (L and B) due to PTA decomposition with calcination at a higher temperature.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2405-2423
Number of pages19
JournalResearch on Chemical Intermediates
Volume44
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2018

Keywords

  • Acidity
  • Citronellal cyclisation
  • Heteropoly acids
  • Isopulegol
  • Montmorillonite
  • Pore structure

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry

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