UC Berkeley

The catalytic consequences of confinement within zeolite voids were examined for several elimination (alkane cracking and dehydrogenation, alkene cracking, alkanol dehydration) and addition (alkene hydrogenation, alkylation and oligomerization) reactions catalyzed by Brønsted solid acids. These reactions are mediated by cationic transition states that are confined within voids of molecular dimensions (0.4-1.3 nm) and proceed at rates that reflect the Gibbs free energies of late ion-pairs at transition states relative to those for the relevant reactants. Ion-pair stabilities depend on electrostatic interactions between organic cations and catalyst conjugate anions and on dispersion interactions between these cations and framework oxygen atoms. The former interactions are essentially unaffected by confinement, which influences weakly Brønsted acid strength, while the latter depend strongly on the sizes and shapes of voids and the species confined within them. The catalytic effects of confinement in stabilizing ion-pairs are prevalent when transition states are measured relative to gaseous reactants, but are attenuated and in some cases become irrelevant when measured with respect to confined reactants that are similar in composition and size.

Zeolite voids solvate confined species by van der Waals forces and mediate compromises in their enthalpic and entropic stabilities. Confinement is generally preferred within locations that benefit enthalpic stability over entropic freedom at low temperatures, in which free energies depend more strongly on enthalpic than entropic factors. For example, the carbonylation of dimethyl ether (400-500 K) occurs with high specificity within eight-membered (8-MR) zeolite voids, but at undetectable rates within larger voids. This specificity reflects the more effective van der Waals stabilization of carbonylation transition states within the former voids. In contrast, entropic consequences of confinement become preeminent in high temperature reactions. Alkane activation turnovers (700-800 K) are much faster on 8-MR than 12-MR protons of mordenite zeolites because the relevant ion-pairs are confined only partially within shallow 8-MR side pockets and to lesser extents than within 12-MR channels.

The site requirements and confinement effects found initially for elimination reactions were also pertinent for addition reactions mediated by ion-pair transition states of similar size and structure. Ratios of rate constants for elimination and addition steps involved in the same mechanistic sequence (e.g., alkane dehydrogenation and alkene hydrogenation) reflected solely the thermodynamic equilibrium constant for the stoichiometric gas-phase reaction. These relations are consistent with the De Donder non-equilibrium thermodynamic treatments of chemical reaction rates, in spite of the different reactant pressures used to measure rates in forward and reverse directions. The De Donder relations remained relevant at these different reaction conditions because the same elementary step limited rates and surfaces remained predominantly unoccupied in both directions.

Rate constants for elementary steps catalyzed by zeolitic Brønsted acids reflect the combined effects of acid strength and solvation. Their individual catalytic consequences can be extricated using Born-Haber thermochemical cycles, which dissect activation energies and entropies into terms that depend on specific catalyst and reactant properties. This approach was used to show that thermal, chemical and cation-exchange treatments, which essentially change the sizes of faujasite supercage voids by addition or removal of extraframework aluminum species, influence solvation properties strongly but acid strength only weakly. These findings have clarified controversial interpretations that have persisted for decades regarding the origins of chemical reactivity and acid strength on faujasite zeolites.

Born-Haber thermochemical relations, together with Marcus theory treatments of charge transfer reaction coordinates, provide a general framework to examine the effects of reactant and catalyst structure on ion-pair transition state enthalpy and entropy. The resulting structure-function relations lead to predictive insights that advance our understanding of confinement effects in zeolite acid catalysis beyond the largely phenomenological descriptions of shape selectivity and size exclusion. These findings also open new opportunities for the design and selection of microporous materials with active sites placed within desired void structures for reasons of catalytic rate or selectivity. The ability of zeolite voids to mimic biological catalysts in their selective stabilization of certain transition states by dispersion forces imparts catalytic diversity, all the more remarkable in light of the similar acid strengths among known aluminosilicates. This offers significant promise to expand the ranges of materials used and of reactions they catalyze.