Preparation of Cs/Cu-LDO@X catalysts and reaction mechanism of the side-chain alkylation of toluene to styrene

The Cu-LDH@X composite materials were synthesized using the in-situ self-sacrificial template method, and the acid-base bifunctional Cs/Cu-LDO@X catalysts were prepared by impregnation-calcination. The as-synthesized catalysts were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, SEM, HRTEM (EDS), FTIR, XPS, NH3-TPD, CO2-TPD techniques. The catalytic performance of the catalysts was evaluated in one step by implying a fixed-bed microreactor for the side-chain alkylation of toluene with methanol to styrene. The reaction mechanisms of the side-chain alkylation on the catalysts surface were deeply investigated. The Cs/Cu-LDO@X catalysts with adjustable acid-base sites and nanolayered structures demonstrated good catalytic performance for the side-chain alkylation of toluene. The Cs/Cu-LDO@X-3 catalyst exhibited the best catalytic performance with toluene conversion is up to 6.58%, while the selectivity of side-chain alkylated products and styrene is 91.64% and 54.16% respectively. The reaction mechanism investigation indicates that methanol dehydrogenated firstly to form formaldehyde under the action of the base sites on the catalyst surface, later, the adsorbed toluene on the acid sites underwent side-chain alkylation with formaldehyde. High selectivity of produced styrene owing to the synergistic interactions of acid-base sites and layered space-confined effects of the catalytic system.