Mechanistic aspects of friedel-crafts alkylation over FeY zeolite

Abstract

The effect of aromatic/alkylchloride molar ratio, base addition, solvent and alkylating agent on the ethylbenzene alkylation over FeY zeolite was investigated. It was shown that alkylation occurs inside the pores and it is little affected by the reactants molar ratio. On the other hand, addition of bases or oxygenated compounds, capable of complexing with the active site, blocks the reaction. A mechanism involving single electron transfer between the active iron species and the alkylchloride was propose to account for the results. ©2006 Sociedade Brasileira de Química.