Kinetics of 2-propanol dehydration over montmorillonite clays and pillaredmontmorillonites

Metal ion exchanged montmorillonites (AlM & CrM) and metal oxide pillared m ontmorillonite (AlPM & CrPM) were prepared and characterized with XRD, FT-I R, nitrogen adsorption and TPD of ammonia. The pillaring process results in a remarkable increase of interlayer distance, surface area and acid amount of the catalyst. However, increasing the calcined temperature causes rever se effects for the CrPM catalyst. The acid amount decreases in the order of CrPM200 > CrPM300 > ALPM500 > CrM > CrPM400 greater than or equal to CrPM5 00 greater than or equal to AlM. In the dehydration of 2-propanol to propen e, the reaction follows first order kinetics and the apparent rate constant is related to the catalyst acid amount. Compensation effect occurs in this reaction over the series of catalysts.