Effect of Produced HCl during the Catalysis on Micro- and Mesoporous MOFs

Abstract

This paper reports the influence of alkylation reaction byproducts, particularly HCl, on MOF-5. Reaction between tert -butyl chloride and toluene or biphenyl in the presence of MOF-5 as a catalyst generates an unusual structural transformation which was proved to be due to the formation of byproduct HCl by means of powder X-ray diffraction analysis. Despite this, the highly desirable catalytic performance in terms of high conversions (>99%) and selectivity (>98%) toward the less bulky para-oriented products is maintained.