Chemical Titration of Promoted Ag/α-Al₂O₃ Ethylene Epoxidation Catalysts

We enumerate the active site density for a promoted Ag/α-Al₂O₃ ethylene epoxidation catalyst (35 wt.% Ag) by using trifluoroethanol as a chemical titrant. Trifluoroethanol, when introduced into the reactant stream, deprotonates to deposit stable trifluoroethoxy or trifluoromethyl groups on the Ag surface and inhibits ethylene oxide (EO) rates, thus enabling us to assess catalytic site densities. Active site densities vary between 52 and 69 μmol_TFE g_cat⁻¹ across different chlorine coverages (0–0.4 monolayers) and different oxygen concentrations (2.5–7.7 mol%) in the reactor feed. Site densities measured by in situ trifluoroethanol chemical titration are distinct compared to those evaluated using ex-situ N₂O decomposition (12.3 μmol_N2O g_cat⁻¹) suggesting that dynamic restructuring of the Ag surface under reaction conditions may render pre-reaction chemisorption measurements insufficient to accurately enumerate the active sites relevant for ethylene epoxidation.