Mechanism of dichlorination of n-dodecane and chlorination of 1-chlorododecane adsorbed on ZSM-5 zeolite molecular sieves. A supramolecular structural interpretation

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00122a020

The product distributions produced by the photoinduced dichlorination of n-dodecane (nD) and the photoinduced monochlorination of 1-chlorododecane (1CD) adsorbed on two pentasil zeolites (silicalite and LZ-105) have been investigated. The results are explained in terms of a supramolecular model for which the mobile and diffusing chlorination reagents (Cl^?/Cl₂) enter the zeolite particle from the external surface and diffuse preferentially along the linear channels of the zeolite internal surface that contain immobile adsorbed nD (or 1CD) molecules. The model assumes that the outermost layer of adsorbed substrates is attacked preferentially, that the attack occurs at the proximal end of adsorbed nD molecules closest to the external surface, and that, after the first chlorination, the substrate molecules in an inner layer are protected from chlorination by "blocking" molecules parked in the outer layer. The model describes each substrate molecule adsorbed on the internal surface in terms of supramolecular isomeric structures that are capable of characterizing the specific void space sites occupied by the substrate. A detailed analysis of the results allows the conclusion that the compensating cations tend to be preferentially located in the zigzag channels rather than in the linear channels or intersections and that the variation of selectivity of chlorination with experimental conditions results from redistribution of the isomeric supramolecular structures.