Styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer beads with varying degrees of crosslinking, 30, 40 and 50 in volume percent were prepared and then sulfonated to obtain ion exchange resin beads with three types of distribution of acid groups. The local concentration level was controlled by partial neutralization and sulfonation time for fully sulfonated and partially sulfonated ones, respectively.
Isomerization of 1-butene was carried out to investigate the effect of the local concentration level and the types of distribution of acid groups on the catalytic activities.
The catalytic activity increased nonlinearly with increasing local concentration and there was little change in the activity with varying degree of crosslinking.
It was found that about three sulfonic acid groups took part in the isomerization of 1-butene, therefore specific activities of the types of full sulfonation were greater than those of partially sulfonated ones.
A two phase model was extended considering the types of distribution of acid groups and correlated with the experimental data of isomerization of 1-butene.
