The balance of acid and basic sites in bifunctional Mg/Me mixed oxides: the effect on catalytic performance in the gas-phase alkylation of m-cresol with methanol

The reactivity of Mg/Me-mixed oxides (Me = Fe, Cr, Al) in m-cresol gas-phase methylation with methanol was studied, with the aim of finding relationships between catalytic performance and surface/bulk features. All systems exhibit similar surface properties (basically due to the presence of basic and Lewis-type (acid sites), but the presence of extra cations in the MgO framework affects greatly the products obtained in the mentioned catalytic reaction, depending on the possible co-presence of redox capacity. In particular, (i) the Mg/Al/O system, characterized by no redox capacity, shows catalytic behaviour quite similar to that of conventional Brønsted-type acid catalysts, though with the advantage of exhibiting almost no deactivation during use (a rather common problem for acid catalysts activating methanol for phenol attack); (ii) the Mg/Cr/O catalyst shows a reactivity typical of a basic catalyst, with high chemo- and regio-selectivity and the favoured formation of 2,5-dimethylphenol; (iii) the Mg/Fe/O system presents a catalytic behaviour closer to that of Mg/Cr/O, if referred to the distribution of phenolic products, but it also exhibits a better activity in methanol dehydrogenation to formaldehyde (that is the true electrophilic reactant for m-cresol ring methylation), and in the decomposition of formaldehyde into light compounds. This behaviour causes a poor selectivity to dimethylphenols with respect to converted methanol, whereas the selectivity with respect to converted m-cresol is not different from that shown by Mg/Cr/O system.