The first zeolite with a tri-directional extra-large 14-ring pore system derived using a phosphonium-based organic molecule

A new germanosilicate zeolite (denoted as ITQ-53) with extra-large pores has been synthesised using tri-tertbutylmethylphosphonium cation as the organic structure directing agent (OSDA). Rotation electron diffraction (RED) was used to identify ITQ-53 from an initially-synthesised sample containing impurities, and to solve its structure. The structure was refined against PXRD data of pure ITQ-53 samples obtained after synthesis optimisation. ITQ-53 is the first example of extra-large pore zeolites with tri-directional interconnected 14 × 14 × 14-ring channels. It is stable up to at least 650 °C. The structure of ITQ-53 changes from monoclinic to orthorhombic upon calcination.