Comparison of the catalytic performance of the metal substituted cage type mesoporous silica catalysts in the alkylation of naphthalene

Alkylation of naphthalene with propylene to diisopropylnaphthalenes (DIPN) for the use as a high-quality solvent was carried out over mesoporous AISBA-1, GaSBA-1 and FeSBA-1 catalysts. The AISBA-1 and GaSBA-1 catalysts were very active in alkylation while the FeSBA-1 samples, although initially active, deactivated quickly. Activity of the SBA-1 catalysts increased with the amount of Al, Ga or Fe incorporation into the silica framework. Regardless of the alkylation activity, all SBA-1 catalysts showed rather low isomerization activity and as a result low 2,6-DIPN selectivity was observed. The AISBA-1 and GaSBA-1 catalysts proved to be promising for DIPN solvent synthesis due to their high alkylation activity and stability together with low 2,6-DIPN selectivity. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.