(194e) Confinement, Electron Transfer and Lewis Acidity: Growing Facets of Zeolite Catalysis

Most of the zeolite research in the area of catalysis centers on the acid/base properties of zeolites and on the catalytic properties of extra-framework cations for redox and hydrogenation/dehydrogenation reactions on zeolites with, for example, Fe/Cu or Ga/Zn in extra-framework positions. Yet there are other zeolite properties that can be exploited to carry out catalytic reactions. This talk will describe recent investigations in our laboratory that highlight specific instances of catalysis by confinement and electron transfer in reactions such as NO oxidation and alkane activation. We will also discuss the catalytic properties of beta zeolites containing titanium, tin, zirconium and hafnium coordinated to the zeolite framework. This class of materials, having Lewis acidic properties but no Bronsted acids, has been investigated for the Meerwein–Pondorf–Verley reduction of carbonyl compounds and for the Oppenauer oxidation of alcohols. We will show that these materials are also effective catalysts for other ‘classical’ Lewis-catalyzed reactions such as the Diels-Alder reaction.