Steven Petrosius

Alkylation, isomerization and cracking activity of a novel solid acid, AlCl2(SG)n

Abstract Research on the strong acid catalyst, AlCl2(SG)n (where SG = silica gel), has been extended to the study of a number of acid-catalyzed reactions. In the alkylation of benzene and toluene, the catalyst was found to be active in a batch reactor but gave poor selectivity at elevated temperatures in a flow reactor. The isomerization ofn-butane,n-pentane andn-hexane has been examined with particularly successful results obtained in the former case. Isomerization ofn-butane approached the theoretical conversion limit at room temperature and remained at that level when HCl(g) was added to the reaction stream.

The strong solid acid, (SG)nAlCl2, as a catalyst for the dehydrochlorination and hydrodechlorination of polychlorinated molecules

Abstract A series of novel, solid strong acids has been prepared by treatment of inorganic oxides with Lewis acids and metal chlorides. The objective is to create four-coordinate, as opposed to the usual six-coordinate, aluminum centers on inorganic oxides which should result in strong acid catalysts. Several novel metal-doped solid acid catalysts combine this strong acidity with metal dopant reactivities to attain the selectivity of non-radical pathways. These new solid acid catalysts exhibit high catalytic activity and selectivity for the dehydrochlorination and hydrodechlorination of various polychlorinated molecules.

Decomposition of chlorinated hydrocarbons using metal oxides supported on carbonaceous adsorbents

A series of catalysts comprised of high-valent transition metal oxides supported in porous, carbonaceous adsorbents oxidize methylene chloride completely to CO, CO2 and HCl at 250 °C and 1 atm; results with CD2Cl2 indicate that C–H bond dissociation is involved in the rate determining step of the reaction.