Isomerization of Pinene with Al- and Ga-Modified MCM-41 Mesoporous Materials

Abstract

In recent years the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries have increased the usage of camphene, an intermediate for the manufacture of, for instance, camphor, anti-swelling drugs and K vitamin. Therefore, recent research efforts have been focused on developing new reaction paths towards a higher selectivity to camphene while avoiding other terpene by-products, such as p-cumene and limonene, which are of little industrial value. The aim of the present work was to study the structure and catalytic performance of Al- and Ga- substituted MCM-41 mesoporous materials for the α-pinene isomerization reaction. Both, Al and Ga, enhance the Brönsted and Lewis acidity of the parental MCM-41 material. At low conversion (± 10%) there was little deactivation, mainly due to the absence of secondary reactions; at higher conversion (± 50%) considerable amount of cyclic products are obtained.