Dehydration of Methyl α-Hydroxyisobutyrate Catalyzed by Zeolites

Article abstract of DOI:10.1006/jcat.1995.1002

The catalytic dehydration of methyl α-hydroxyisobutyrate over various zeolites in a flow reactor is described.Both NaY and NaX are effective catalysts for the selective conversion of MOB to methyl methacrylate.Modification with K⁺ and Cs⁺ enhances the activity and selectivity of NaY but renders NaX a less effective catalyst.Acidic zeolites (HY, Beta, GdNaX, SmNaY, fluorinated SmNaY) were shown to be quite active but poorly selective with catalyst deactivation resulting from coke formation.