Evidence for the presence of a bimolecular pathway in the isomerization of xylene on some large-pore zeolites

Using deuterated para-xylene as a reactant we have found that more than 20% of the meta- and ortho-xylenes, obtained when using a HY zeolite as catalyst, are formed via a bimolecular mechanism. This involves, as an intermediate complex, a molecule of trimethylbenzene and another of xylene. The bimolecular process is less important in the case of mordenite, and does not occur in Zeolite Beta at low levels of conversion. The relative proportion of uni- to bimolecular mechanism depends on: reaction conditions, zeolite composition, and zeolite structure. Some of the mechanistic conclusions, reached when using xylene isomerization and transalkylation as a test reaction on faujasite zeolites, should be revised in light of these results. Finally, transalkylation between trimethylbenzenes and xylenes is proposed as a test reaction for 12 membered-ring (MR) zeolites since structural differences can be better established than when the conventional xylene isomerization-transalkylation reaction is used.