Enhanced catalytic performance for metathesis reactions over ordered tungsten and aluminum co-doped mesoporous KIT-6 catalysts

Ordered tungsten and aluminum co-doped mesoporous KIT-6 catalysts (W-Al-KIT-6) with different Si/Al molar ratios were successfully synthesized by a one-pot synthesis method. The obtained W-Al-KIT-6 catalysts were tested for catalytic conversion of 1-butene and ethene to propene via isomerization of 1-butene to 2-butene and subsequent cross metathesis of 2-butene and ethene. Various characterization techniques, such as ICP-OES, XRD, BET, TEM, Raman, XPS and NH3-TPD, were used to characterize the catalysts. The introduction of Al did not change the mesoporous structure of KIT-6 when the nominal Si/Al was 10, 20 or 30. Moreover, the sample demonstrated a larger amount of acidic sites. The W-Al-KIT-6 catalysts with suitable Si/Al ratios illustrated a superior catalytic performance to W-KIT-6 catalyst. The origin of catalytic performance enhancement over W-Al-KIT-6 catalysts is preliminarily discussed and ascribed to the highly disperse W species and a large amount of acidic sites. The acidic sites were formed by the introduction of a suitable amount of Al in the W-KIT-6 framework, which accelerated the isomerization of 1-butene to 2-butene and promoted the cross metathesis of 2-butene and ethene to propene.