Synthesis of tricyclopentadiene from dicyclopentadiene over nanoporous hybrid material

A hybrid material, MMZFER, composed of microporous and mesoporous material prepared from ferrierite was evaluated as a catalyst for oligomerization of endo-dicyclopentadiene (DCPD). Physical and chemical characteristics of the catalysts were analyzed by NH3-TPD, N2 adsorption, XRD and infrared spectroscopy of adsorbed pyridine. Mesopores as well as micropores were well developed in the MMZFER catalyst. The MMZFER catalyst showed a weak acid site composed of Brönsted acid site, Lewis acid sites and H acid sites, whereas strong acid sites were not observed. In the case of the DCPD oligomerization that utilized MMZFER as the catalyst, the yield of TCPD and TeCPD reached 30.4% and 19.9%, respectively, which were higher than those over the FER. It is noticeable that MMZFER is a favorable catalyst for the isomerization selectivity to exo-TCPD. Weak acid sites over MMZFER catalyst play a sufficient role as active sites for DCPD oligomerization. In addition, the higher activity in DCPD oligomerization probably due to the large pore size of MMZFER.