Investigating trimethylphosphine oxide interactions with Brønsted and Lewis acid sites in zeolites: A comparative solid-state NMR study of wet-phase and gas-phase adsorption techniques

This study examines the differences in using two primary methods for adsorbing trimethylphosphine oxide (TMPO) onto acid catalysts and their influence on the NMR spectra of TMPO-loaded zeolites. The findings show that TMPO molecules interact with both Brønsted and Lewis acid sites, and that the amount of (TMPO)2H+ dimers formed increases with the amount of TMPO added. The use of dichloromethane as a solvent inhibits the formation of dimers and crystalline TMPO but may lead to inaccurate estimations of acid site strength and quantification due to interactions with residual solvent molecules. The gas-phase method is preferred for adsorbing TMPO onto zeolites, but caution is needed to avoid forming a high number of dimers that ca pose challenges in the interpretation of the NMR spectra.