ABSTRACT
School of Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0100
Abstrad
A supposed protonation of a sl or sp"' -carbon respectively in cycloalkanes (cyclohexane and methylcyclopentane) or alkylphenyls (dimethylbiphenyls) leads to oxidative coupling of paraffins, but promotes isomerization of substituted benzenes. Cyclohexane and methylcyclopentane are converted to a mixture of isomeric dimethyldecahydronaphthalenes in the presence of a superacid at mild reaction conditions (80-165°C). This reaction has been characterized for different reaction times, acid/substrate ratio, and different reaction temperatures. The coupling reaction is not observed for other substrates such as cyclopentane, cycloheptane, and methylcyclohexane. The isomerization of dimethylbiphenyl proceeds rapidly to 3,3'- and 3,4'-dimethylbiphenyl in superacid at 1 00°C. The kinetics were measured as a function of temperature, and acid/substrate ratio.
