Tandem catalytic conversion of 1-butene and ethene to propene over combined mesoporous W-FDU-12 and MgO catalysts

Tungsten substituted mesoporous FDU-12 (W-FDU-12) catalysts were synthesized by a one-pot hydrothermal process using F127 as the structure directing agent. The studies of TEM, SAXS and BET illustrated that the highly ordered mesoporous structure of FDU-12 was maintained in the doped W-FDU-12 samples. XPS studies revealed that a high concentration of W5+ species appeared in doped W-FDU-12 catalysts whereas supported WO3/FDU-12 and WO3/SiO2 catalysts only contained W6+ species. Tandem catalytic conversion of 1-butene and ethene to propene through isomerization of 1-butene to 2-butene and consecutive cross metathesis of 2-butene and ethene in a fixed-bed reactor at different temperatures and atmospheric pressure was used to evaluate the catalytic performance of the W-FDU-12 catalyst, combined with MgO. The catalytic results showed that the doped W-FDU-12 illustrated a superior catalytic performance relative to the supported WO3/FDU-12 and WO3/SiO2 catalysts. The higher metathesis activity of W-FDU-12 catalysts can be ascribed to the good dispersion of W species and the incorporation of W species into the framework of FDU-12, forming a substantial amount of W5+, which was beneficial for the cross metathesis of 2-butene and ethene to propene.