High selectivity of TaSiBEA zeolite catalysts in 1,3-butadiene production from ethanol and acetaldehyde mixture

New tantalum-silica based zeolite catalysts (TaSiBEA) were applied in this work for 1,3-butadiene production from ethanol. Tantalum incorporation into vacant T-atom sites of the SiBEA zeolites framework as mononuclear Ta(V) allowed preparing highly selective catalysts for ethanol/acetaldehyde mixture conversion into 1,3-butadiene, with selectivity to 1,3-butadiene of 80-90% at total conversion of the mixture of 45-30%. Effect of Ta content on activity of TaSiBEA zeolite catalysts and the ethanol/acetaldehyde molar ratio in selective production of 1,3 butadiene were demonstrated. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.