Vapor‐Phase Aldolization of n‐Butyraldehyde to 2‐Ethyl‐2‐Hexenal over Solid‐Base Catalysts

Vapor‐phase aldol condensation of n‐butyraldehyde to 2‐ethyl‐2‐hexenal was studied at 1 atm and 150～ 300°C in a fixed‐bed, integral‐flow reactor by using NaX, KX, γ‐Al₂O₃ and Na/NaOH/γ‐Al₂CO₃ catalysts. Ion exchange of NaX zeolite with potassium acetate solution results in a decrease of crystallinity and apparent lowering of surface area, whereas the basic strength is enhanced. Treatment of γ‐Al₂O₃ with NaOH and Na causes a large decrease of the surface area but strong enhancement of the catalyst basicity. The catalytic activity on the basis of unit surface area is in the order Na/NaOH/γ‐Al₂O₃ < KXU < KXW < NaX >γ‐Al₂O₃, in accordance with the relative catalyst basic strength. The molar ratio of trimeric to dimeric products increases with increasing the reaction temperature and the catalyst basic strength except for Na/NaOH/γ‐Al₂O₃. Very high selectivity of 2‐ethyl‐2‐hexenal (>98.5%) was observed for reactions over NaX zeolite at 150°C. Based on the FT‐IR and the catalytic results, the reaction paths are proposed as follows: self‐aldol condensation of n‐butyraldehyde, followed by dehydration produces 2‐ethyl‐2‐hexenal, which then reacts with n‐butyraldehyde and successively dehydrates to 2,4‐diethyl‐2,4‐octadienal and 1,3,5‐triethylbenzene. For the reaction over NaX, the calculated Arrhenius frequency factor and activation energy are 314 mol/g·h and 32.6 kJ/mol, respectively.