Rational design of a solid acid catalyst for the conversion of methanol to light alkenes: synthesis, structure and performance of DAF-4

Abstract

By careful choice of the appropriate organic template, new shape-selective solid acid catalysts—framework-substituted microporous aluminium phosphates (AIPO₄) that are structurally analogous to the mineral levyne—are designed, synthesised and characterized; they convert methanol preferentially to ethane and propene.