Formation and decomposition of N,N,N-trimethylanilinium cations on zeolite H--Y investigated by in situ stopped-flow MAS NMR spectroscopy

Results present an unequivocal evidence for the decomposition of N,N,N-trimethylanilinium cations into N,N-dimethylanilinium and N-methylanilinium cations. Furthermore, the catalytic aniline methylation mechanism involves equilibrium of all the above three anilinium cations on the catalyst surface for the gas phase products distribution.