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We report the synthesis of hierarchical mordenite zeolite nanorods in one step using inexpensive mono‐quaternary ammonium N‐cetyl‐N‐methylpyrrolidinium (C16NMP) as mesoporogen to the synthesis gel. The presence of a small amount of C16NMP results in the formation of 0.6–1 μm rods‐like crystals oriented along the c‐axis with a high mesoporous volume (0.12 cm3 g−1) and external surface area (∼90 m2 g−1) compared to bulk mordenite. Acidity characterization shows that the presence of C16NMP during mordenite formation leads to a redistribution of aluminum in the zeolite framework: the amount of Brønsted acid sites in the side‐pockets (8MR channels) is increased at the expense of those in the 12MR main channels. As these latter acid sites are the ones involved in the conversion of alkene intermediates in bifunctional hydroconversion of alkanes, an optimized hierarchical mordenite prepared with C16NMP displays a more ideal hydrocracking selectivity than bulk MOR prepared solely with sodium.

In this work, we developed a novel strategy to synthesize porous (alumino)silicate materials using a single structure-directing agent composed of an imidazole unit with a hydrophobic tail, namely, 1,2-dimethyl-3-hexadecyl-1H-imidazol-3-ium bromide (C16dMImz). A wide range of products such as ordered mesoporous silicas, layered silica–alumina, and hierarchically porous mordenite zeolite were obtained by varying synthesis parameters such as temperature and aluminum concentration. By changing crystallization temperature, we could control the degree of silica condensation and tune the textural and morphological properties of the final materials. By varying the aluminum concentration in the gel, we can obtain mesoporous amorphous silica–alumina or crystalline mordenite zeolite with, respectively, weak and strong Brønsted acid sites. Obtained acidic silica–alumina materials displayed promising performance in catalytic reactions of linear paraffin hydroisomerization and Friedel–Crafts alkylation of benzene with benzyl alcohol.

A methanethiol-to-olefins (MtTO) equivalent of methanol-to-olefins (MTO) chemistry is demonstrated. CH3SH can be converted to ethylene and propylene in a similar manner as CH3OH over SSZ-13 zeolite involving a hydrocarbon...

A novel method to remove aluminium from the framework of as-synthesized zeolite crystals is presented.