Carbonylation of Dimethyl Ether to Methyl Acetate over SSZ-13

The small-pore zeolite with the chabazite framework topology, SSZ-13, is found to be an active catalyst in the carbonylation of dimethyl ether to methyl acetate (MA). The production of MA over SSZ-13 after 24 h on stream at 165 °C and 1 bar approaches that obtained from mordenite and is significantly higher than from ferrierite at comparable Si/Al of ca. 10. To understand the origin of the activity, SSZ-13 materials are synthesized with variable Si/Al, characterized via several techniques including multinuclear magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR) spectroscopy, and evaluated for their carbonylation activity. While MA production rates increase with decreasing Si/Al, the correlation is nonlinear due to the effect of Si/Al on the acid site distribution within different confining environments, and the associated impact of the latter on the rate-determining transition sta…