Liquid-phase dehydration of 1-octadecanol,
which is intermediately
formed during the hydrodeoxygenation of microalgae oil on zeolite
H-BEA, has been studied, combining experiment and theory. Both the
OH group and the alkyl chain of 1-octadecanol interact with zeolite
Brønsted acid sites, inducing inefficient utilization in the
presence of high acid-site concentrations. The parallel intramolecular
and intermolecular dehydration pathways, leading to octadecene and
dioctadecyl ether, have different activation energies and pass through
different reaction intermediates. The formation of surface alkoxides
is the rate-limiting step in the intramolecular dehydration, whereas
the intermolecular dehydration proceeds via a bulky dimer intermediate,
occurring preferentially at the pore mouth or outer surface of zeolite
crystallites. Despite the main contribution of Brønsted acid
sites toward both dehydration pathways, Lewis acid sites are also
active to form dioctadecyl ether.