The isopropylation of naphthalene over cerium-modified H-mordenite

H-Mordenite (HM) catalysts impregnated with cerium exhibited high activity and selectivity of 2,6-diisopropylnaphthalene (2,6-DIPN) for the isopropylation of naphthalene with propylene. Cerium modification with such a large amount as 30-50 wt% improved the catalyst performance for every HM catalyst with SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 ratio between 10 and 220. The highest selectivity of 2,6-DIPN was achieved up to 70% over a highly dealuminated HM catalyst with 30 wt% of cerium. The effective pore dimension of HM catalyst is not reduced by the modification. The improvement of the catalyst performance is ascribed to the selective deactivation of acid sites on the external surface by cerium impregnation.