Catalytic Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) Reduction of Citronellal to Citronellol by Modified BEA Zeolite

The modified BEA zeolite catalysts were prepared by HCl dealumination and ion-exchange with alkali or alkaline salts.The catalysts were characterized by XRD and SEM.The catalytic activities were evaluated by MPV reduction of citronellal to citronellol with isopropanol.The results showed that,the modified Cs-BEA zeolites prepared by dealumiation-ionexchange exhibited excellent activity and selectivity for MPV reduction of citronellal to citronellol.In this paper,the effect of reaction conditions such as the mole ratio of citronellal to isopropanol,catalyst loading and reaction time was also examined.Under the optimum conditions,the conversion of citronellal was 95.4% and the selectivity of citronellol was 93.4%.