Patent ID: 7578987

Claim:
A process for preparing a crystalline metallo-aluminophosphate molecular sieve having a framework composition on an anhydrous and calcined basis expressed by an empirical formula of (El x Al y P z )O 2 , wherein El is selected from the group consisting of silicon, magnesium, zinc, iron, cobalt, nickel, manganese, chromium, and mixtures thereof, “x” is the mole fraction of El and has a value from 0.001 to about 0.5, “y” is the mole fraction of Al and has a value of at least 0.01, “z” is the mole fraction of P and has a value of at least 0.01 and x+y+z=1, the process comprising: providing a reaction mixture comprising an aluminum source, a phosphorous source, water, an El source, an organic template source and a fluoride source to form a catalyst and wherein the template to phosphorus ratio on a molar basis is less than about 0.5; and crystallizing the molecular sieve at a temperature between about 100° C. and about 250° C., to provide the molecular sieve and then calcining in air, where the molecular sieve is characterized as having an essentially pure CHA framework with an average crystal size less than about 5 micrometers.