LAUSR

SAPO-34 was synthesized with n-butylamine (BA) as a template for the first time. Crystallization temperature and initial Si amount were important factors leading to successful syntheses. Lamellar AlPO-kanemite tends to form as the major phase or as an impurity of SAPO-34 at lower crystallization temperatures, though a higher initial Si amount may offer a positive effect on the crystallization of SAPO-34 that mitigates the low temperature. Higher temperature (240 °C) can effectively suppress the generation of lamellar materials and allow the synthesis of pure SAPO-34 with a wider range of Si incorporation. The crystallization processes at 200 and 240 °C were investigated and compared. We used the aminothermal method to synthesize SAPO-34-BA at 240 °C and also found n-propylamine is a suitable template for the synthesis of SAPO-34. The SAPO-34-BA products were characterized by many techniques. SAPO-34-BA has good thermal stability, crystallinity and porosity. BA remained intact in the crystals with ∼1.8 BA molecule per chabazite cage. The catalytic performance of SAPO-34 was tested in the methanol amination reaction, which showed high methanol conversion and selectivity for methylamine plus dimethylamine under the conditions investigated, suggesting that this material is a good candidate for the synthesis of methylamines.