Mild Vacancy Generation and Acidification of the H-USY Zeolite with a Single-Electron Organic Donor

[EN] The ultra-stabilized acidic Y (H-USY) zeolite is a robust, microporous, tridimensional, crystalline aluminosilicate widely employed as a solid catalyst in petrochemistry and fine chemistry, in virtue of its acidity and high internal surface area. Here we show that these two parameters, i.e., ac...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Hervàs-Arnandis, Susi, Mon-Conejero, Marta|||0000-0002-1983-1096, Oliver-Meseguer, Judit|||0000-0003-1555-3583, García Gómez, Hermenegildo|||0000-0002-9664-493X, Leyva Perez, Antonio|||0000-0003-1063-5811
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/225517
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/225517
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:H-USY zeolite
Ultra-stabilized acidic Y zeolite
Microporous
Crystalline aluminosilicate
Solid catalyst
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] The ultra-stabilized acidic Y (H-USY) zeolite is a robust, microporous, tridimensional, crystalline aluminosilicate widely employed as a solid catalyst in petrochemistry and fine chemistry, in virtue of its acidity and high internal surface area. Here we show that these two parameters, i.e., acidity and internal surface area, are enhanced when the H-USY zeolite is treated with a single-electron organic donor such as thianthrene, without any additional solvent nor additive. A spontaneous electron donation from thianthrene to the zeolite framework occurs, to generate the corresponding thianthrene cation radical and the negatively charged zeolite, which, counterintuitively, increases rather than decreases the zeolite acidity, after generating vacancies in the zeolite framework and increasing the surface area. The vacant H-USY solid (vac-H-USY) catalyzes the opening reaction of epoxides with alcohols and water with nearly twice faster reaction rates compared to the pristine H-USY, and the solid is recoverable and reusable. These results bring a mild and green methodology to generate vacancies in zeolites, circumventing current methodologies at >400 degrees C, and also to increase the surface area and acidity of the solid zeolite without altering neither its structure nor metal composition, with applications in catalysis and beyond.