A temporal analysis of products (TAP) study of C2-C4 alkene reactions with a well-defined pool of methylating species on ZSM-22 zeolite

•Alkene methylation on ZSM-22 zeolite was studied by TAP pulse-response experiments.•Alkene adsorption and diffusion within the zeolite nanopores does not conform to simple models.•Low-pressure flow of DME at 400 °C followed by evacuation produces a stable population of methoxy groups with 5% coverage.•The kinetics of alkene reactions with the methoxy groups agree well with DFT-derived kinetics.•TAP provides a unique bridge between ab initio and experimental kinetics of MTH-relevant chemistry.