A relation between the product distribution from the dehydration of dimethylbutan-2-ols and catalytic acidity

Abstract

In the dehydration of 3,3-dimethyl- and 2,3-dimethyl-butan-2-ol, the formation of Hofmann alkanes (but-1-enes) is favoured by boron phosphate catalysts of relatively high surface acid concentrations, while those catalysts with lower acid concentrations promote the production of Saytzeff alkenes (but-2-enes); the activity and selectivity can be related to catalyst composition and surface acidity, and two simultaneously operative mechanisms, whose importance varies with catalyst composition, are tentatively proposed.