Reduction of nitrogen dioxide by propene over acidic mordenites: influence of acid site concentration, formation of by-products and mechanism

The reduction of nitrogen dioxide to nitrogen by propene was studied over a variety of acidic mordenite zeolites differing in their Si:AI ratio and thus, in their concentration of acid sites. The formation of by-products was monitored applying an ion-molecule reaction (IMR) mass spectrometer. It was found that at fixed conditions the yield of nitrogen increases with increasing concentration of acid sites, confirming that acid sites are the active catalytic centres in the reaction. Apart from nitrogen and nitric oxide, acrylonitrile and ammonia are formed as nitrogen containing gas-phase products in the reaction. In separate experiments, it was shown that acrylonitrile is hydrolysed by water over the acidic zeolites to yield ammonia and acrylic acid. When acrylonitrile is used as reducing agent for nitrogen dioxide, formation of nitrogen is strongly enhanced in the presence of water. Water also has a promoting effect on the formation of nitrogen in the reaction between nitrogen dioxide and propene. Acrylonitrile and its product of hydrolysis, ammonia, are considered to be intermediates of nitrogen dioxide reduction to nitrogen by propene over acidic zeolites. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.