Effect of NaY Zeolite at Different Calcination Temperatures on the Activity in Hydroformylation of Formaldehyde

Abstract The NaY zeolites were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis method. The influence of NaY zeolite calcined at different temperatures as carriers for Rh/NaY catalysts on the hydroformylation of formaldehyde was investigated. The physical and chemical properties of Rh/NaY catalysts and their performance were characterized in details. When the zeolites were calcined at 400–700 °C, the crystal structure and morphology were kept unchanged within this range of calcination temperature. However, the surface crystallinity and surface area were reduced with increasing the temperature due to the partially collapsed of its framework, and thus reducing the confine of cages structure to rhodium species promote its participation in the coordination reaction. The reduction in the amount of surface Lewis acid can reduce the electronegativity of the carrier and change the electronic state of the surface rhodium species, which would weaken the hindrance to anionic speciation and promote CO insertion, which facilitates the hydroformylation of formaldehyde.