Ferric Single-Site Catalyst Confined in a Zeolite Framework for Propane Dehydrogenation

Non-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane is a highly efficient approach for industrial preparation of propene that is commonly catalyzed by noble Pt or toxic Cr catalysts and suffers from coking. In this work, ferric catalyst confined in a zeolite framework was synthesized by a hydrothermal procedure. The isolated Fe in the framework formed distorted tetrahedra, which were beneficial for the selective dehydrogenation of propane and reached over 95 % propene selectivity and over 99 % total olefins selectivity. This catalyst had a silanol-free structure and was oxygen tolerant, hydrothermally stable, and coke free, with a deactivation constant of 0.01 h-1. This study provided guidance for the synthesis of structural heteroatomic zeolite and efficient propane non-oxidative dehydrogenation over early transition metals. A single-site catalyst comprised of ferric iron confined in an MFI-type zeolite framework was synthesized by a hydrothermal method involving rapid mixing at high temperature. The isolated Fe species in the framework formed distorted tetrahedra, which were beneficial for the selective dehydrogenation of propane. The catalyst had a silanol-free structure and was oxygen tolerant, hydrothermally stable, and resistant to coking.+image