An industrially promising method for the synthesis of highly crystalline powdered ZSM-5 zeolite has been developed. The method is based on the use of natural aluminosilicate metakaolin as the main source of silicon and aluminum, and butanol as the template. The pore structure of the synthesized zeolite was shown to contain both micro- and mesopores.

The effect exerted by precipitation method, temperature and duration of ZrO₂·nH₂O aging on the porous texture, phase composition and thermal transformations of ZrO₂·nH₂O and ZrO₂ has been studied. It was found that variation of precipitation method makes it possible to change the specific surface area, volume and mean pore size of ZrO₂·nH₂O and ZrO₂, increase the contribution of mesopores to the pore space of ZrO₂·nH₂O, and alter the particle size of ZrO₂. An increase in the aging temperature of ZrO₂·nH₂O led to a considerable development of the mesoporous structure, an increase in the specific surface area of ZrO₂·nH₂O and ZrO₂, and a decrease in the ZrO₂ particle size. However, the ratio of ZrO₂ phases changed non-monotonically with extending the aging time. Selection of precipitation and aging conditions provided a twofold increase in the pore volume of ZrO₂ as compared to the sulfated zirconia isomerization catalyst and allowed extending the surface area without the introduction of additional components. The best characteristics of the ZrO₂ pore structure – Ssp = 140 m²/g and Vpore = 0.404 cm³/g – are achieved when precipitation is performed at a constant pH and is followed by ZrO₂·nH₂O aging at 90 °С for 12 h.

The paper presents a brief review of the studies on the oxidation of various organic compounds with hydrogen peroxide performed by the authors at the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis SB RAS. Main catalytic systems for the production of carboxylic acids, which are the marketable products for industry and fine organic synthesis, under the conditions of interphase catalysis are considered. It was shown that the use of pre-synthesized catalytic complexes with the general formula Q₃{PO₄[WO(O₂)₂]₄} improves the process performance, for example, increases the product yield, decreases the reaction time and lowers the catalyst concentration in comparison with the processes where the catalyst precursors are introduced in the reaction medium simultaneously with other reagents, and the active complex is formed in situ.

Asphaltenes and resins from petroleum vacuum residue were shown to be the promising raw materials for obtaining pure vanadyl porphyrins. Vanadyl porphyrins are recovered from petroleum objects via the extraction of dimethyl formamide (DMFA) followed by purification on a chromatographic column using silica gel and sulfocationite. The composition of the obtained vanadyl porphyrins was studied by means of mass spectrometry with matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Thus obtained metalloporphyrins can be used as a basis to create catalysts for various chemical processes, which may serve as an alternative to their synthesis.

The feasibility of the room temperature catalytic cyclization of hydrazine hydrate and acrylic acid in the presence of an acidic catalyst containing petroleum asphaltenes was explored. The effect of sulfocationite on the synthesis of the target pyrazolidin-3-one was studied. Reaction masses and their distillation residues were analyzed. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and electrospray ionization were used to reveal different individual, oligomeric and polymeric products. The most probable structures of the obtained products were proposed.

The review considers the current situation in the market of phenolformaldehyde resins, which form the basis for a wide spectrum of binding compositions with variable properties, which allow obtaining various materials for particular technological purposes. Properties, types and application fields of phenolformaldehyde resins are characterized, their advantages and drawbacks are discussed, and possible more promising analogs are considered. The development of new and modification of existing processes for the synthesis of phenolformaldehyde resins by varying the process conditions and selecting the optimal catalyst were shown to be topical.

The full article will be published in the English version of the  journal "Catalysis in Industry" No. 1, 2021.

The synthesis of the microporous SAPO-34 molecular sieve goes from a combination of three templates: triethylamine, tetraethylammonium hydroxide, and morpholine under hydrothermal conditions. Two aluminum sources, namely aluminum hydroxide, and aluminum isopropoxide, were used exclusively to synthesize SAPO-34 zeolites. The effects of aluminum sources on the crystallization and physicochemical properties of SAPO-34 were studied thoroughly. The synthesized samples were characterized by using different characterization methods, including XRD, FE-SEM, N₂ isotherm, EDS, and NH3-TPD. The results illustrate that the various sources of aluminum used for the synthesis of SAPO-34 materials extremely affect the crystallinity, morphology, and density of acid sites. Besides, the influence of aluminum sources on the performance of NH₃-SCR technology was studied with Cu/SAPO-34 catalysts in a fixed-bed flow reactor. The two Cu/SAPO-34 catalysts promoted different NO and NH₃ conversions between 200–600 °C though they share similar Cu content, which was loaded by the ion-exchange method in aqueous solution. In addition, the different Cu species in the two catalyst samples are surveyed by H₂-TPR, while the EPR method is also used to assess the coordination of the copper element in the two catalysts.

The review provides an analysis of the literature on the existing processes for obtaining an important organic product – methacrylic acid and its ester – methyl methacrylate. The main methods of their industrial production are the synthesis from acetone and hydrocyanic acid (the acetone cyanohydrin method) and catalytic syntheses from petrochemical raw materials –ethylene, propylene and isobutylene.

The effect of syngas dilution with nitrogen on the activity, selectivity and capacity of the Fischer–Tropsch reactor with a fixed granulated catalyst bed was studied during the synthesis at the integrated pilot plant for conversion of natural gas to syncrude. Experimental data were obtained at different nitrogen content in syngas: up to 2, 50 and 70 %. The analysis of experimental data shows that the dilution of syngas increases the selectivity to C₅₊ and decreases the selectivity to methane. The decrease in the reactor capacity observed upon dilution of syngas can be compensated by increasing the syngas flow rate. A decrease in the pressure of the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis from 2 to 1.5 and 1.0 MPa was shown to exert a detrimental effect on the catalytic performance of the process carried out with a twofold dilution of syngas at its hourly space velocity of 4000 h^–1.

The review presents an analysis of the scientific-technical level and trends in the development of advanced foreign and national catalysts for main oil refining hydroprocesses – hydrocracking of vacuum gas-oil and hydrotreatment of various distillates (cat-cracked gasoline, diesel fuel, and vacuum gas-oil). Prospects of industrial production and wide application of the hydroprocessing catalysts produced in Russia are estimated.