Enhancing the aromatic selectivity of cyclohexane aromatization by CO₂ coupling

Improving the aromatic selectivity in the alkane aromatization process is of great importance for its practical utilization but challenge to make because the high H/C ratio of alkanes would lead to a serious hydrogen transfer process and a large amount of light alkanes. Herein, CO2 is introduced into the cyclohexane conversion process on the HZSM-5 zeolite, which can improve the aromatic selectivity. By optimizing the reaction conditions, an improved aromatic (benzene, toluene, xylene, and C9+) selectivity of 48.2% can be obtained at the conditions of 2.7 MPa (CO2), 450 & DEG;C, and 1.7 h(-1), which is better than that without CO2 (aromatic selectivity = 43.2%). In situ transmission Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra illustrate that many oxygenated chemical intermediates (e.g., carboxylic acid, anhydride, unsaturated aldehydes/ketones or ketene) would be formed during the cyclohexane conversion process in the presence of CO2. C-13 isotope labeling experimental results demonstrate that CO2 can enter into the aromatics through the formation of oxygenated chemical intermediates and thereby improve the aromatic selectivity. This study may open a green, economic, and promising way to improve the aromatic selectivity for alkane aromatization process.