ACS Catalysis
Letter
pentadienyl cation by ethylene would result in triene E.
Although we did not observe triene E, acid-catalyzed
isomerization of this intermediate would result in the observed
4-propyltoluene (6). If the intermediate B instead reacts with
DMF in a Friedel−Crafts-type reaction, the observed major
byproduct 12 arises. As in the reaction with ethylene, this
electrophilic reaction would be expected to occur at the
terminus of the extended cation, which is consistent with the
observed products. Subsequent Diels−Alder reactions of 12
with ethylene, either at the dimethylfuryl group followed by
dehydration or at the cyclohexadiene, lead to the formation of
20 and 18, respectively. We can exclude the direct formation of
20 from cation B because reactions performed with added d10-
p-xylene did not result in an increased deuterium content in 20,
as judged by GC/MS (see the Supporting Information).
Finally, we have also observed several byproducts that are
consistent with secondary oxidation of initially formed
products. For example, the formation of 13 and 21 is readily
explained by the aerobic oxidation of cyclohexadienes 12 and
20, respectively, after the reactor is opened to air.25,26 Likewise,
dehydration of alcohol 14, followed by aerobic oxidation of the
resulting diene, gives rise to substituted xylene 10.
3.3. Discussion of Reaction Network. The proposed
reaction network is consistent with two major deleterious
pathways leading to decreased yields of p-xylene. The first
pathway involves the hydrolysis of DMF by water to generate
2,5-hexanedione (3). This side reaction is particularly plaguing
because it not only consumes starting material, but the
hydrolysis product is also subject to polymerization via aldol
reactions in the acid environment. We believe that polymeric
aldol byproducts from this pathway most likely explain the
surface condensates observed at the end of the reaction and
may also explain the darkening of the zeolite catalyst during the
course of the reaction. Indeed, subjection of diketone 3 to the
zeolite catalyst at 528 K resulted in considerable darkening of
the catalyst surface, likely due to the formation of surface-
bound polymers. Interestingly, however, very few soluble aldol-
type products were observed in this control reaction, as
determined by GC/MS analysis. This suggests that the
hydrolysis pathway is not a significant contributor to the
observed (soluble) product mixtures, as shown in Figure 2 and
Table 1.27
Unfortunately, because water is generated in the final step of
the desired reaction pathway, complete suppression of the
hydrolytic decomposition of DMF may be difficult to avoid.
Further, it is clear from Table 1 that temperature plays a role in
the hydrolytic reaction because more of diketone 3 is produced
at higher temperatures, but this may simply be a result of
greater conversion of DMF to p-xylene. One obvious strategy
that may suppress the hydrolytic reaction is the removal or
sequestration of water from the reaction media, such as by the
addition of stoichiometric desiccants. Such studies will be
undertaken in the near future.
The second nonproductive pathway involved in this reaction
sequence appears to be a number of related Friedel−Crafts-
type reactions resulting from side reactions of the highly
electrophilic cationic intermediates en route to the product.
Indeed, it appears that both allyl cation A as well as pentadienyl
cation B participate in such side reactions. In particular,
pentadienyl cation B appears to be a particularly serious branch
point in the reaction network because it undergoes both
Friedel−Crafts-type reactions (with ethylene or DMF). The
increased stability of B, compared with A, due to its extended
conjugation would be expected to lead to a longer-lived
intermediate. This stability and the resulting increase in steady
state concentration may explain why more side products appear
to derive from the latter intermediate.
In addition, one can easily envision a number of other
regioisomeric byproducts arising from electrophilic reactions
similar to those shown in Figure 3. The products from those
pathways would be expected to provide compounds with
similar or identical molecular formulas and mass spectroscopic
fragmentation patterns highly similar to the identified
compounds. As mentioned above, many of the unassigned
compounds have GC/MS features closely resembling the
Friedel−Crafts products shown in Figure 3; thus, we believe
that the remaining byproducts also result from related
electrophilic pathways.
Unfortunately, because the pathway leading to the desired p-
xylene requires the intermediacy of both cations A and B, it is
not possible to avoid the formation of these reactive
intermediates. Likewise, one might consider controlling the
concentration of the nucleophiles (i.e., ethylene and DMF) that
participate in the electrophilic side reactions as a way to
modulate the rates of formation of side products. However,
both ethylene and DMF are required in the upstream Diels−
Alder reaction, meaning that a reduction in their concentrations
would likely have deleterious effects on the overall rate of p-
xylene production. Consistent with this, we have previously
observed that high operating pressures facilitate the rate of p-
xylene production.4
Fortunately, however, the proposed reaction network does
suggest a means for limiting the production of side products
from electrophilic pathways. For both cations A and B, the
undesired Friedel−Crafts-type pathways directly compete with
productive deprotonation leading to p-xylene. One alternative is
to use zeolite materials that contain higher concentrations of
framework aluminum (i.e., lower Si/Al ratios), such as zeolite
X, that are known to have lower effective acidity.28
Alternatively, zeolites containing other framework heteroatoms
(such as Ga(III) and Fe(III)) are also known to have lower
effective acidity and could potentially aid in reducing the
relative rates of the undesired reaction channels.29,30 Finally, an
optimal selectivity window for p-xylene might be achieved by
tuning the dielectric properties of the solvent. In fact, our
previous results have shown that the use of n-heptane as solvent
increases the selectivity of p-xylene from 55% to 75% on HY
zeolite.4 One would expect that such a nonpolar solvent would
destabilize cationic intermediates, which might result in a faster
deprotonation step and increased rate of desired product
formation. Future studies will be directed toward optimization
of the zeolite catalyst as well as understanding solvent effects in
the reaction.
4. CONCLUSION
Using advanced separation and analytical techniques, including
extensive 1D and 2D NMR, we have been able to identify the
majority of compounds produced in the reaction of 2,5-
dimethylfuran (DMF) and ethylene over catalytic HY zeolite.
In addition to the desired p-xylene, we have found that
hydrolysis of the DMF and a number of electrophilic reactions
of cationic intermediates lead to a range of side products. With
detailed knowledge of byproduct structures, we have been able
to propose a reaction network that is consistent with the
observed product distribution. These studies suggest that active
removal of water from the reaction, as well as the modulation of
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/cs300673b | ACS Catal. 2013, 3, 41−46