The interactions of sorbates with gallosilicates and alkali-metal exchanged gallosilicates

Structures, energetics and vibrational frequencies of the interaction of adsorbates with H-aluminosilicates (H-AlZ), H-gallosilicates (H-GaZ), alkali-metal exchanged aluminosilicates (X-AlZ) and alkali-metal exchanged gallosilicates (X-GaZ), where X being Li, Na, or K, have been carried out at B3LYP and HF levels of theory with 6-31G(d) as the basis set. The charge compensating alkali-metal ions can affect the catalytically active site (Si–O–T where T=Al or Ga) by weakening the Si–O, Al–O, and Ga–O bonds as compared to their anionic frameworks. Comparing the net stabilization energies, ΔE_NSE, of the naked alkali-metal/H₂O adducts with those of the alkali-metal exchanged zeolite/H₂O systems, the latter amounts only to about 50% of the former, which is partly due to the destabilizing role of the negative zeolitic oxygen frameworks surrounding the cations. The interaction of sorbates with the alkali-metal exchanged gallosilicates can be employed to probe the field strength inside the catalytic frameworks as indicated by the plot of the binding energy, ΔE, versus 1/R_X–Ow², with R_(X–Ow) being the distance between the cationic nucleus and the oxygen atom of the adsorbate. The IR spectra of H₂O adsorbed on Na-AlZ are calculated to be 3584, 3651, and 1686 cm^?1. The obtained results are in excellent agreement with the very recent experimental IR spectra of water adsorbed on Na-ZSM-5 of Zecchina et al. (J. Phys. Chem., 100 (1996) 16 484). Other important features, i.e. the correlation between Δν_OH and, ΔE, R_(X–Ow), and 1/R_X–Ow², cationic size, demonstrate that the interactions of sorbates with alkali-metal exchanged gallosilicates are well approximated by electrostatic contribution.