Catalytic characterization of pillared clays through toluene methylation reaction

Pillared clays (PILCs) with Al and Zr oxide pillars were studied in terms of their structure and texture. The catalytic properties of the samples were evaluated through toluene methylation reaction. As comparison material, a commercial zeolite HZSM-5 was used. The toluene conversion at short time-on-stream over PILCs, although smaller than the value obtained with HZSM-5, attains values of 37 (molar %). In all cases the reaction products are a mixture of xylene, ethyltoluene and trimethylbenzene isomers. All samples present higher selectivity to xylene isomers, which are the primary products. For Zr pillared clay, the percentage of these isomers is the highest.