Highly Efficient Hydroisomerization of Endo-Tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene to Exo-Tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene over Pt/HY

[Image: see text] The fast deactivation caused by serious formation of coke is a major challenge in catalytic isomerization of endo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (endo-THDCPD) into exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (exo-THDCPD) over the HY zeolite. In order to suppress the coke formation for the isomerization process, the conventional HY zeolite was modified with Pt at 0.3 wt %. Then, the hydroisomerization of endo-THDCPD into exo-THDCPD was evaluated over a fixed-bed reactor. The catalytic stability of Pt/HY was greatly enhanced in comparison to that of the HY zeolite. The Pt/HY catalyst provided 97% endo-THDCPD conversion and 96% selectivity for exo-THDCPD without deactivation after 100 h. Moreover, the formation mechanism of coke on the HY zeolite during the isomerization process was proposed based on the results of the coke analysis. It was indicated that the coke was generated from the oligomerization and condensation of olefin species, which originated from the β-scission reaction or hydride transfer reaction of intermediates. The lower coke formation over Pt/HY was attributed to the lower amount of coke precursors, which could be hydrogenated by activated H(2) over Pt sites. Therefore, Pt on Pt/HY and H(2) were two crucial factors in efficiently enhancing the catalytic stability of the HY zeolite for this isomerization reaction.