25-P-13-Naphthalene alkylation with methanol employing solid catalysts

This chapter discusses naphthalene alkylation with methanol-employing solid catalysts. The relation between the structure of the catalyst and the reaction activity and selectivity is studied with MCM-22, MCM-41, HY, Beta, and BZR5 catalysts. High selectivity in β methylnaphthalene (2-MN) is obtained using MCM-41 catalyst. For the MCM-22 catalyst, the presence of 10-member ring channels and windows present severe constraint for the diffusion of naphthalene into the channels; therefore, the reaction possibly takes place at the external surface of this material.