Synthesis, characterisation of sulfated zirconia & application as solid acid catalyst for industrially important organic reaction
Sulfated zirconia can be considered as zirconium dioxide (zirconia) doped with sulfate. Its modification with various transition metals such as Pt[18],Fe and Mn[19], has been found to improve the catalytic activity and the stability against the rapid deactivation of sulfated zirconia. Sulfate-treated zirconiagelmodified by platinumis active for n-pentane isomerization and the activity aswell as the selectivity being similar to those of commercial catalysts[1]. It can behave as a superacid on the basis of measurements of titration method of Hammett indicators[2]. In the presentworkAseries ofmesoporous sulfated ziorconia (SZ) were synthesized and their catalytic activity has been measured in organic synthesis of cumarin, xanthene and flavanone. The catalysts has been characterized through XPRD studies, FT-IR Studies and their SEMmorphology.