Nickel Containing Mesoporous Molecular Sieves
J. Phys. Chem., Vol. 100, No. 23, 1996 9909
geometries, the complex geometry of the Ni(I)-C2D8 complex
is difficult to determine. Assuming a π-bonding interaction two
incorporation of aluminum into the walls of MCM-41 seems to
enhance the acidity. To test the acidity of the MCM-41
materials under the conditions present during ethylene dimer-
ization, the isomerization of 1-butene was used as a test reaction.
MCM-41 and Ni-MCM-41 are the materials with the lowest
1-butene turnover and the highest cis/trans ratio indicating the
lowest acidity for these materials. The increase in conversion
in nickel-containing MCM-41 is probably due to the formation
(cis/trans-2-butene) or three (isobutene) deuteriums should be
closer to Ni(I) than the other six or five deuteriums. This is
somewhat reflected by the ESEM results, which show two closer
nuclei with a Ni(I)-D distance of 0.36 nm and six more distant
deuteriums with a Ni(I)-D distance of 0.45 nm. Similar results
were also found in SAPO-5 and SAPO-11.2
1
2
9
We have shown in an earlier publication21 that in materials
of acid sites during the reduction of Ni(II) to Ni(I) or Ni(0).
The conversion of 1-butene is higher in AlMCM-41 than in
MCM-41 showing that the incorporation of aluminum into the
walls of MCM increases the acidity. This is also reflected in
the decrease of the cis/trans ratio. By ion exchange of Ni(II)
into AlMCM-41 the material again becomes more acidic, as
reflected by the increased turnover and a cis/trans ratio of 0.53
which is close to the thermal equilibrium value of 0.45. Ni/
MCM-41 seems to be comparable to AlMCM-41 in acidity,
indicating that Ni(II) might be incorporated into the walls of
the MCM-41 molecular sieve and therefore lead to a material
with enhanced acidity.
with smaller channels like SAPO-11 (0.63 by 0.39 nm) and
SAPO-5 (0.73 nm) Ni-C4D8 complexes with a large g-factor
anisotropy are obtained. The g-factor anisotropy decreases with
increasing channel diameter.21 Therefore, we expect a lower
anisotropy in this MCM-41 system. In fact, we obtained an
isotropic species and an axially symmetric species. These
species were also obtained in NiH-SAPO-8,22 a molecular
sieve with large straight channels of 0.87 by 0.79 nm diam-
eter. This is also consistent with results in X and Y zeolites,
which have cages of 1.2 nm diameter. In NiCa-Y zeolites there
are three different species with axially symmetric (g| ) 2.109
and g⊥ ) 2.023; g| ) 1.965 and g⊥ ) 2.620) and isotropic (giso
All samples deactivate after a longer dimerization reaction
time, most likely due to the reduction of the catalytically active
2.048) parameters.12 Surprisingly, none of these Ni(I) species
are found in MCM-41 materials or in silicoaluminophosphates.
)
2
1
Ni(I) to Ni(0) by ethylene or butene. Coke formation could
not be detected by ESR spectroscopy, which in this case should
show a strong isotropic signal at g ) 2.0 after a longer reaction
It has been reported that ethylene is initially dimerized to
23
1-butene over various transition metal ion exchanged zeolites.
3
0
time.
In a subsequent reaction step 1-butene is isomerized to an
Due to space limitations in zeolites and SAPO materials
n-butenes are the major dimerization products. In the larger
MCM-41 and AlMCM-41 materials the formation of larger
olefins could be more likely. However, the formation of
hexenes was not detected in the MCM-41 materials under
investigation. This is in contrast to previous results in the Ni-
equilibrium composition of n-butenes with predominant trans-
2
-butene (cis/trans ratio ≈ 0.5). In zeolites and SAPO materials
it has been shown that monovalent transition metal ions with a
9
d configuration like Ni(I) and Pd(I) are the catalytically active
sites for ethylene dimerization.1
2,24,25
The subsequent isomer-
ization to cis- and trans-2-butene is catalyzed by the acid sites
of the MCM-41 materials. Ethylene dimerization occurs in all
nickel-containing MCM-41 materials after dehydration at 723
1
1
(I)/SiO2 system, where the formation of hexenes is obtained
after a 24 h reaction period. One possibly relevant difference
between MCM-41 and silica is that the pore sizes are regular
in MCM-41 but have a significant distribution in silica encom-
pasing some much larger pores that could contribute to hexene
formation.
K, which produces Ni(I) by reduction of Ni(II) by desorbing
water or hydroxyl groups.15 The activity for the formation of
C4 olefins decreases in the order Ni/MCM-41 > Ni-AlMCM-
4
1 > Ni-MCM-41, which reflects also the order of initial Ni-
(II) concentration after ion exchange or synthesis. The differ-
Conclusions
ences between Ni-AlMCM-41 and Ni-MCM-41 are most likely
due to different ion-exchange sites leading to a higher Ni(I)
concentration in AlMCM-41 which is confirmed by our ESR
results. In MCM-41 Ni(I) replaces silanol protons, whereas the
introduction of alumina into the walls of AlMCM-41 produces
a net negative charge, which is initially balanced by sodium
ions. The different strengths and behaviors of these ion-
exchange positions were recently also shown in copper-
Ethylene dimerization occurs at 343 K in nickel-containing
MCM-41 and AlMCM-41 materials after dehydration at 723
K, but there are significant differences in the product distribu-
tion. In ion-exchanged Ni-MCM-41 and in synthesized Ni/
MCM-41 a higher relative concentration of 1-butene is detected
than in ion-exchanged Ni-AlMCM-41, where the thermal
equilibrium distribution of n-butenes is detected, suggesting that
the acidity of Ni-AlMCM-41 is higher. This assumption was
confirmed by investigating 1-butene isomerization, an acid-
catalyzed reaction. The turnover was maximal in Ni-AlMCM-
6
containing MCM-41 materials. The high turnover in Ni/MCM-
41 is somewhat surprising but is consistent with its higher initial
nickel concentration.
The isomerization of 1-butene to cis-2-butene and trans-2-
4
1, showing that this is the material with the highest acidity.
2
6
butene is catalyzed by acid sites of the molecular sieve. In
Ni-AlMCM-41 the thermal equilibrium distribution of n-butenes
is detected after ∼24 h, but in pure siliceous Ni-MCM-41 and
Ni/MCM-41 the amount of 1-butene in the gas-phase is much
higher (Figure 1, a and c). The thermal equilibrium distribution
is not even reached after 96 h of reaction. In NiCa-X the
The catalytic activity for the formation of n-butenes increases
with the incorporation of aluminum into the walls of the
MCM-41 structure. This is probably due to better stabiliza-
tion of the catalytically active Ni(I) in AlMCM-41. This is
supported by the ESR data, where significant amounts of
Ni(I) are only detected in the aluminum containing form.
After adsorption of ethylene a Ni(I)-C2D4 complex is obtained,
which is converted into a Ni(I)-C4D8 complex after the reaction.
The formation of these complexes is confirmed by ESEM
analysis.
1
2
equilibrium distribution is reached very rapidly (∼30 min),
which shows that X-zeolite has higher acidity compared to the
MCM-41 materials.
Preliminary, recently published results comparing the acidity
of AlMCM-41 and MCM-41 show that AlMCM-41 is slightly
more acidic than MCM-41.28 So far no detailed investigation
of the acidity of MCM-41 and AlMCM-41 has been published,
but our catalytic ethylene dimerization results show that the
Acknowledgment. This research was supported by the
National Science Foundation and the Robert A. Welch
Foundation.