13Zeolites and Mesoporous Aluminosilicates as Solid Acid Catalysts: Fundamentals and Future Challenges

Heterogeneous catalysis is behind 85% of all industrial chemical processes.1 Particularly,thehighmaturityandextraordinaryef"ciencyofpetrochemistryrelyontheuseofsolidcatalysts.2 The paradigmatic examples of successfulheterogeneouscatalystsarezeolitesandmaterialsderivedtherefrom.3 Aswidelyrecognized,thedevelopmentofzeolitesaslarge-scalecatalystsCONTENTS13.1Introduction ..............................................................................................449 13.2Green Chemistry and Acid Catalysts ................................................... 451 13.3 Structure of Zeolites ................................................................................453 13.4 Mesoporous Aluminosilicates ...............................................................454 13.5 Nature of Acid Sites in Zeolites and MesoporousAluminosilicates ..................................................................................... 457 13.6Lewis Acid Sites ....................................................................................... 459 13.7 Experimental Techniques to Measure Acidity in Solids ....................460 13.8 In"uence of the Crystal Structure on the Acid Strength ................... 461 13.9 Examples of Reactions Catalyzed by Solid Acids ...............................463 13.10Product Distribution of the α-Bromopropiophenone CyclicEthylene Acetal as a Test Reaction to Assess Brönsted and Lewis Acidity in Zeolites ........................................................................46313.11 In"uence of the Acid Strength on the Catalytic Activity of Acid Zeolites .............................................................................................46513.12Friedel-Crafts Hydroxyalkylation of Arenes by Carbonylic Compounds ..............................................................................................46813.13 Conclusions and Future Trends ............................................................. 472 References ............................................................................................................. 473inpetrochemistryhasbeenoneofthemajorachievementsinthechemistry ofthetwentiethcentury.4 Scheme 13.1 shows the diagram of "uid catalytic crackingthatiscurrentlythemostimportantprocessbasedonacidzeolites as catalysts.