Sustainable production of acrylic acid: alkali-ion exchanged beta zeolite for gas-phase dehydration of lactic acid.

Gas-phase dehydration of lactic acid (LA) to acrylic acid (AA) was investigated over alkali-exchanged β zeolite (M(x)Na(1-x)β, M=Li(+), K(+), Rb(+), or Cs(+)) of different exchange degrees (x). The reaction was conducted under varying conditions to understand the catalyst selectivity for AA production and trends of byproduct formation. The nature and exchange degree of M(+) were found to be critical for the acid-base properties and catalytic performance of the exchanged zeolite. K(x)Na(1-x)β of x=0.94 appeared to be the best performing catalyst whereas Li(x)Na(1-x)β and Naβ were the poorest in terms of AA selectivity and yield. The AA yield as high as 61 mol % (selectivity: 64 mol %) could be obtained under optimized reaction conditions for up to 8 h over the best performing K0.94Na0.06β. The acid and base properties of the catalysts were probed, respectively by temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) of adsorbed NH3 and CO2, and were related to the electrostatic potentials of the alkali ions in the zeolite, which provided a basis for the discussion of the acid-base catalysis for sustainable AA formation from LA.