Molecular orbital studies on the mechanism of catalytic isomerization of xylenes III. Protonation channels

Abstract The isoenergetic lines of the interaction energy between a bare proton and ortho-, meta- , and para -xylene have been calculated in order to detect both the best approaching channel and the preferred protonation positions. The channels found direct the protonation to the following ring positions: 4 and 5 for o -xylene, 4 and 6 for m -xylene, and 2 equivalents for p -xylene. The overall interaction energy determines the protonation positions on each isomer and the most important contributions to it are the electrostatic term in o -xylene, the polarization term in p -xylene, and both terms equally in m -xylene. These results are in agreement with the experimental findings and appear …

The Role of the Energetics of Adsorption in Kinetic Studies