Epoxidation of propylene by using [π-C5H5NC16H33]3[PW4O16] as catalyst and with hydrogen peroxide generated by 2-ethylanthrahydroquinone and molecular oxygen

The epoxidation of propylene catalyzed by a reaction-controlled phase transfer catalyst [π-C₅H₅NC₁₆H₃₃]₃[PW₄O₁₆] is investigated. The H₂O₂ is generated by the oxidation of 2-ethylanthrahydroquinone (EAHQ) with molecular oxygen in the organic solvent. Under mild conditions, the selectivity for propylene oxide, based on propylene, is 95%, and the yield, based on 2-ethylanthrahydroquinone, is 85%. During the epoxidation, the catalytic system is homogeneous. However, after the H₂O₂ is used up, the catalyst can be recovered as a precipitate and can be reused. After the epoxidation reaction, 2-ethylanthraquinone can be regenerated to 2-ethylanthrahydroquinone by catalytic hydrogenation, and no coproduct is produced.     

Deactivation and regeneration of TS-1/SiO2 catalyst for epoxidation of propylene with hydrogen peroxide in a fixed-bed reactor

TS-1/SiO₂ catalyst for the epoxidation of propylene with hydrogen peroxide in a fixed-bed reactor has been investigated. The catalyst activity decreases gradually with the online reaction time, but the selectivity of propylene epoxide is kept at about 93%. The fresh, deactivated and regenerated catalysts were characterized with X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultra-violet-visible diffuse reflectance, Brunner-Emmett-Teller method and thermogravimetric analysis, and the deactivated catalyst was regenerated with H₂O₂/methanol solution. Compared with the fresh catalyst, both the framework structure and the content of titanium in the framework of the deactivated and regenerated TS-1/SiO₂ catalysts were not changed. The major reason of the catalyst deactivation was the blockage of the channels of the catalyst by bulky organic by-products, which covered the active centers of titanium in TS-1. The deposited materials on the deactivated TS-1/SiO₂ catalyst could be removed by treatment with hydrogen peroxide/methanol solution or pure methanol; the higher the treatment temperature and the higher the concentration of H₂O₂ in methanol, the higher the extent of the regeneration. The regeneration treatment did not influence the product selectivity in the propylene epoxidation.     

Kinetics of propylene epoxidation using H2 and O2 over a gold/mesoporous titanosilicate catalyst

The oxidation of propylene to propylene oxide (PO) with hydrogen–oxygen mixtures was studied on gold supported on the mesoporous titanium silicate, Ti-TUD. The catalyst gave stable activity at low conversions of propylene (<6%) and high selectivity to PO (>95%). Kinetic data were fit to a power-rate law and gave the following expression: r_PO = k(H₂)^0.54(O₂)^0.24(C₃H₆)^0.36. The fractional orders in hydrogen, oxygen, and propylene indicated that these reactants interacted with the catalyst to form species that led to the final PO product. The catalyst likely operated by the commonly accepted mechanism of hydrogen peroxide production on gold sites, and epoxidation on titanium centers. Carbon dioxide was formed primarily from further oxidation of PO rather than the oxidation of propylene, while water was produced from the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen.     

Selective oxidation of propylene to acrolein over supported V2O5/Nb2O5 catalysts: An in situ Raman, IR, TPSR and kinetic study

The vapor-phase selective oxidation of propylene (H₂CCHCH₃) to acrolein (H₂CCHCHO) was investigated over supported V₂O₅/Nb₂O₅ catalysts. The catalysts were synthesized by incipient wetness impregnation of V-isopropoxide/isopropanol solutions and calcination at 450 °C. The catalytic active vanadia component was shown by in situ Raman spectroscopy to be 100% dispersed as surface VO_x species on the Nb₂O₅ support in the sub-monolayer region (<8.4 V/nm²). Surface allyl species (H₂CCHCH_2*) were observed with in situ FT-IR to be the most abundant reaction intermediates. The acrolein formation kinetics and selectivity were strongly dependent on the surface VO_x coverage. Two surface VO_x sites were found to participate in the selective oxidation of propylene to acrolein. The reaction kinetics followed a Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism with first-order in propylene and half-order in O₂ partial pressures. C₃H₆-TPSR spectroscopy studies also revealed that the lattice oxygen from the catalyst was not capable of selectively oxidizing propylene to acrolein and that the presence of gas phase molecular O₂ was critical for maintaining the surface VO_x species in the fully oxidized state. The catalytic active site for this selective oxidation reaction involves the bridging VONb support bond.     

钛硅分子筛TS-1催化环氧丙烷异构反应的机理探究

丙烯氢氧环氧化一步法制备环氧丙烷（PO）相比于传统的PO工业生产方法在经济和环保方面具有不可比拟的优势。Au/TS-1双功能催化剂在该反应中展现出较优的PO性能,针对其中TS-1催化PO开环异构生成副产物进行了研究,结合PO在堵孔TS-1分子筛（TS-1-B）和Au/TS-1-B催化剂上的反应性能和红外表征结果,采用理论计算探究了Ti-Defect位点上丙醛和丙酮的生成路径以及涉及的能量变化。结果显示PO在TS-1上的异构化主要经历碳氧键断裂和氢原子转移重排两个过渡态,以及具有五元环结构的双配位丙氧基物种中间体。相比于丙醛,丙酮由于生成过程中氢原子重排的过渡态能垒较高而具有更低的异构化选择性。所揭示的TS-1上PO吸附及异构化反应机制将为钛基丙烯环氧化催化剂的结构改性以增强PO脱附从而提高PO选择性提供理论依据。     

Explosion limits estimation and process optimization of direct propylene epoxidation with H2 and O2

Direct propylene epoxidation with H₂ and O₂, an attractive process to produce propylene oxide (PO), has a potential explosion danger due to the coexistence of flammable gases (i.e., C₃H₆ and H₂) and oxidizer (i.e., O₂). The unknown explosion limits of the multi-component feed gas mixture make it difficult to optimize the reaction process under safe operation conditions. In this work, a distribution method is proposed and verified to be effective by comparing estimated and experimental explosion limits of more than 200 kinds of flammable gas mixture. Then, it is employed to estimate the explosion limits of the feed gas mixture, some results of which are also validated by the classic Le Chatelier's Rule and flammable resistance method. Based on the estimated explosion limits, process optimization is carried out using commercially high and inherently safe reactant concentrations to enhance reaction performance. The promising results are directly obtained through the interface called gOPT in gPROMS only by using a simple, easy-constructed and mature packed-bed reactor, such as the PO yield of 13.3%, PO selectivity of 85.1% and outlet PO fraction of 1.8%. These results can be rationalized by indepth analyses and discussion about the effects of the decision variables on the operation safety and reaction performance. The insights revealed here could shed new light on the process development of the PO production based on the estimation of the explosion limits of the multi-component feed gas mixture containing flammable gases, inert gas and O₂, followed by process optimization.     

Performance of spent sulfide catalysts in hydrodesulfurization of straight run and nitrogen-removed gas oils

After the test run of several months two kinds of commercial catalysts (NiMo/Al₂O₃ and CoMo/Al₂O₃) were examined in hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of straight run (SRGO) and nitrogen-removed gas oils, at 340 °C under 50 kg/cm² H₂. Hydrogen renewal between stages was attempted to show additional inhibition effects of the by-products such as H₂S and NH₃. Spent NiMo/Al₂O₃ and CoMo/Al₂O₃ catalysts showed contrasting activities in HDS and susceptibility to nitrogen species, according to their catalytic natures, compared to those of their virgin ones. HDS over spent NiMo/Al₂O₃ was significantly improved by removal of nitrogen species, while that over spent CoMo/Al₂O₃ was much improved by H₂ refreshment. The activity for refractory sulfur species such as 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene was reduced more severely than that for the reactive sulfur species such as benzothiophenes over spent catalysts. The effects of both two-stage hydrodesulfurization and nitrogen-removal were markedly reduced over the spent NiMo when compared with those over virgin NiMo one. The acidity of the catalysts was correlated with the inhibition susceptibility by nitrogen species as well as H₂S and NH₃. Spent catalysts apparently lost their activity due to the carbon deposition, which covered the active sites more preferentially. The spent NiMo catalyst carried more deposited carbon with larger C/H ratio and nitrogen content. Higher acidity was found to be present on the NiMo catalyst, but this was greatly decreased by the carbon deposition. Additionally, the reactivity of nitrogen species in HDS was briefly discussed in relation to the acidity of the catalyst and its deactivation by carbon deposition.     

PtSn负载量对PtSn/Al2O3催化剂上丙烷脱氢性能的影响

由丙烷直接催化脱氢制取丙烯已经成为增产丙烯的重要手段之一。以水热法制备Al_2O_3载体,采用等体积浸渍法制备不同PtSn负载量的PtSn/Al_2O_3催化剂。通过XRD、N2-吸附、拉曼光谱和H2-TPR等对其进行表征,并考察不同PtSn负载量对催化剂催化丙烷脱氢性能的影响。结果表明,在制备的催化剂中,Pt1.5Sn3/Al_2O_3具有最高的催化丙烷脱氢活性和稳定性,丙烷初始转化率高达55.6%,丙烯选择性98.1%。反应330 min后,丙烷转化率仅降约10%,选择性保持不变。     

An efficient bifunctional Ni-Nb2O5 nanocatalysts for the hydrodeoxygenation of anisole

The Ni-Nb₂O₅ nanocatalysts have been prepared by the sol–gel method, and the catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) performance of anisole as model compound is studied. The results show that Nb exists as amorphous Nb₂O₅ species, which can promote Ni dispersion. The addition of Nb₂O₅ increases the acidity of the catalyst. However, when the content of niobium is high, there is an inactive Nb-Ni-O mixed phase. The size and morphology of Ni grains in catalysts are different due to the difference of Nb/Ni molar ratio. The Ni_0.9Nb_0.1 sample has the largest surface area of 170.8 m²·g^-1 among the catalysts prepared in different Nb/Ni molar ratios, which is mainly composed of spherical nanoparticles and crack pores. The HDO of anisole follows the reaction route of the hydrogenation HYD route. The Ni_0.9Nb_0.1 catalyst displayed a higher HDO performance for anisole than Ni catalyst. The selectivity to cyclohexane over the Ni_0.9Nb_0.1 sample is about 10 times that of Ni catalyst at 220 ℃ and 3 MPa H₂. The selectivity of cyclohexane is increased with the increase of reaction temperature. The anisole is almost completely transformed into cyclohexane at 240 ℃, 3 MPa H₂ and 4 h.     

丙烯氢氧环氧化动力学与反应器概念设计研究进展

环氧丙烷（PO）在全球产能最高的35种化学品中,是仅次于聚丙烯的第二大丙烯衍生物,主要用于生产聚醚多元醇、聚氨酯等。相比传统的氯醇法、共氧化法和双氧水直接氧化法（HPPO）等PO生产工艺,丙烯在氢氧混合气中一步环氧化制PO（HOPO）具有工艺简单、选择性高、产物易分离、能耗低等突出优势,是生产PO的理想工艺。重点介绍了丙烯氢氧环氧化反应动力学研究进展,包括主、副反应动力学模型以及催化剂失活模型。总结了基于该过程安全操作的反应器概念设计进展。分析了丙烯氢氧环氧化反应存在的挑战,从副产物生成途径、失活动力学及颗粒催化剂上的动力学等方面展望了可能的研究方向。     

ACr_2O_4尖晶石氧化物(A=Co,Zn,Mn,Cu)上二氯甲烷的催化燃烧:A位阳离子的影响

采用溶胶-凝胶法制备4种不同ACr_2O_4尖晶石氧化物(A=Co,Zn,Mn,Cu),考察A位阳离子对ACr_2O_4尖晶石氧化物的性质以及对二氯甲烷催化燃烧性能的影响,并对催化剂进行SEM、HRTEM、H_2-TPR、NH_3-TPD以及XPS等表征。结果表明,A位离子显著影响催化剂的可还原性和表面酸性,催化剂催化活性顺序为CoCr_2O_4Zn Cr_2O_4Mn Cr_2O_4CuCr_2O_4。结合表征结果,认为催化剂活性与其可还原性能和表面酸性存在密切关系。CoCr_2O_4由于具有最佳的可还原性和较高的表面酸性,具有最高的催化活性;而CuCr_2O_4由于具有最低的表面酸性导致其催化活性最低。     

Catalytic performance of sulfonic acid functionalized ionic liquids on preparation of biodiesel

通过1-烯丙基咪唑与1,4-丁基磺酸内酯反应制备的两性离子分别与硫酸、三氟甲基磺酸、磷钨酸、磷钼酸和硅钨酸直接反应制备了5种磺酸功能化离子液体。采用¹H NMR、FTIR、TG/DTA等技术手段对其结构及热稳定性进行了表征。最后通过催化油酸与甲醇酯化反应制生物柴油过程对催化剂的催化活性和重复使用性进行了评价。结果表明,5种离子液体均具有高催化活性（高于浓硫酸）,并且重复使用4次后,催化活性基本保持不变。3种杂多酸离子液体不溶于产物,以固态形式与产物混合,为其回收和重复利用提供了有利条件。     

Multi-metal cyanide catalysts for ring-opening polymerization of propylene oxide

Polymerizations of propylene oxide (PO) have been carried out by using a series of multi-metal metal cyanide (MMC) catalysts prepared by reacting ZnCl₂ and K₃[Co(CN)₆]₂, K₄Fe(CN)₆, K₃Fe(CN)₆ and/or K₂Ni(CN)₄ in the presence of tert-butyl alcohol and polytetramethylene ether glycol as complexing agents. The resulting MMC catalysts are characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. The structure of MMC catalysts with broadened X-ray diffraction peaks is different from that of highly crystalline Prussian blue analogues of microporous crystalline materials due to the coordination of complexing agents. The PO polymerization behavior was tunable by changing with various metal cyanide salts after fixing a main catalyst component as ZnCl₂. Even if the basic structure of the MMC complexes is different each other, i.e. orthorhombic for Zn₂[Fe(CN)₆] and monoclinic for Zn₃[Fe(CN)₆]₂ and Zn₃[Co(CN)₆]₂, the chemical formulations become more complicated by forming MMC complexes through cyano bridges and complexing agents’ coordination and the structure more distorted from the defined crystal structures. All catalysts prepared by using K₃[Co(CN)₆]₂ showed very high activity once they were activated. Simply changing catalyst formulation by choosing different metal cyanide salts, catalytic activity, induction period, polymer molecular weight and its distribution and polymer viscosity could be tuned.     

Propylene epoxidation in a microreactor with electric heating

Gas phase propylene epoxidation on gold catalysts has attracted wide attention from industry and academia due to its high selectivity. However, it suffers from low propylene conversion and rapid catalyst deactivation. Experiments showed that propylene conversion could be increased by raising H₂, O₂, or C₃H₆ concentration in the feed, but the feed compositions were within the explosion limit. It was also shown that the activity of the used catalyst could be fully recovered, but the regeneration temperature was 280 °C, much higher than that for reaction. Therefore a microchannel reactor was devised to suppress explosion and was constructed with Fecralloy, to raise the temperature rapidly for catalyst regeneration by electric heating. In two minutes the temperature of the reactor could be raised from 50 to 300 °C. Catalysts were coated on the alloy belt by dip coating, and the performance of the reactor was evaluated under different operating conditions. Results showed that in the microreactor the overall reaction rate was controlled mainly by the intrinsic reaction rate, and also influenced by film diffusion to a certain extent. The deactivated catalyst was regenerated in the microchannel reactor and the activity was fully recovered.     

Ethylene epoxidation on Ag catalysts supported on non-porous, microporous and mesoporous silicates

The ethylene epoxidation activity of Ag catalysts supported on non-porous SiO₂, microporous silicalite zeolite and mesoporous MCM-41 and HMS silicates was investigated in the present study in comparison to conventional low surface area -Al₂O₃ based catalysts. The MCM-41 and HMS based catalysts exhibited similar ethylene conversion activity and ethylene oxide (EO) selectivity with the SiO₂ and -Al₂O₃ based catalysts at relatively lower temperatures (up to 230 °C), whereas their activity and selectivity decreased significantly at higher temperatures (≥300 °C). The silicalite based catalyst was highly active for a wide temperature range, similar to the SiO₂ and -Al₂O₃ based catalysts, but it was the less selective amongst all catalysts tested. High loadings of Ag particles (up to ca. 40 wt.%) with medium crystallites size (20–55 nm) could be achieved on the mesoporous materials resulting in very active epoxidation catalysts. The HMS-type silicate with the 3D network of wormhole-like framework mesopores (with average diameter of 3.5 nm), in combination with a high-textural (interparticle) porosity, appeared to be the most promising mesoporous support.     

The hydrocracking of n-decane over bifunctional Ni-H3PW12O40/SiO2 catalysts

A series of bifunctional Ni-H₃PW₁₂O₄₀/SiO₂ catalysts for the hydrocracking of n-decane were designed and prepared. The evaluation results of the catalysts show that Ni-H₃PW₁₂O₄₀/SiO₂ catalysts possess a high activity for hydrocracking of n-decane and an excellent tolerance to the sulfur and nitrogen compounds in the feedstock. Under the reaction conditions: reaction temperature 300 °C; H₂/n-decane volume ratio of 1500; total pressure of 2 Mpa and the LHSV 2 h⁻¹, the conversion of n-decane over reduced 5%Ni-50%H₃PW₁₂O₄₀/SiO₂ catalysts is as high as 90%, the C₅⁺ selectivity equal to 70%. In order to reveal the structure and nature of the catalysts, a number of characterizations including XRD, Raman, H₂-TPD, NH₃-TPD, XPS and FT-IR of pyridine adsorption were carried out. The characteristic results show that the high activity of the catalysts and high C₅⁺ selectivity can be related to the unique structure of the H₃PW₁₂O₄₀ and its suitable acidity.     

Epoxidation of Propylene with Hydrogen Peroxide Over TS-1 Catalyst Synthesized in the Presence of Polystyrene

Titanium silicalite-1 (TS-1) catalyst was synthesized in the presence of polystyrene (PS) particles (denoted as TS-1_PS catalyst) for use in the epoxidation of propylene with hydrogen peroxide. For the purpose of comparison, TS-1 catalyst was also synthesized by a conventional method (in the absence of polystyrene particles). In the epoxidation of propylene, the TS-1_PS catalyst showed a higher conversion of hydrogen peroxide and a higher selectivity for propylene oxide (PO) than the TS-1 catalyst. Consequently, the TS-1_PS catalyst showed a higher yield for PO than the TS-1 catalyst. Characterization results showed that the high catalytic performance of TS-1_PS was attributed to the enhanced hydrophobic property of the catalyst and the suppressed formation of anatase TiO₂ in the catalyst.     

Preparation and characterization of heteropolyacid/mesoporous carbon catalyst for the vapor-phase 2-propanol conversion reaction

H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀ catalyst was chemically immobilized on the surface modified CMK-3 (SM-CMK-3) support as a charge compensating component, by taking advantage of the overall negative charge of [PMo₁₂O₄₀]³⁻. The supported H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀/SM-CMK-3 catalyst was characterized to have high surface area (≈1000 m²/g) and relatively large pore volume (0.83 cm³/g). The H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀/SM-CMK-3 catalyst was applied to the vapor-phase 2-propanol conversion reaction. The H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀/SM-CMK-3 catalyst exhibited higher 2-propanol conversion than the unsupported H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀ and the impregnated H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀ on CMK-3. Furthermore, the PMo₁₂/SM-CMK-3 catalyst showed the enhanced oxidation activity (acetone formation) and the suppressed acid catalytic activity (propylene formation) compared to the other two catalysts. It is believed that [PMo₁₂O₄₀]³⁻ species were chemically and finely immobilized on the SM-CMK-3 support as charge matching species, and thus, the PMo₁₂/SM-CMK-3 catalyst showed an excellent oxidation activity.     

Copper-based efficient catalysts for propylene epoxidation by molecular oxygen

Among a series of SBA-15-supported transition metal oxides with and without modification, the CuO_x/SBA-15 after K⁺ modification exhibited the best catalytic performance for the epoxidation of propylene by molecular oxygen. Potassium was the best modifier among various alkali and alkaline earth metal ions examined, and potassium acetate was a superior precursor of K⁺ for propylene oxide formation. The highest propylene oxide selectivity was obtained over a catalyst with copper content of 1 wt.% and K/Cu molar ratio of 0.7. Kinetic studies reveal that the allylic oxidation mainly proceeds over the CuO_x/SBA-15 providing acrolein as the main partial oxidation product, and the K⁺ modification switches the main reaction route from allylic oxidation to epoxidation. The characterizations suggest that copper species with content of ≤5 wt.% are located in the mesoporous channels of SBA-15 existing mainly as CuO_x clusters and Cu²⁺ ions, and there exists an interaction between K⁺ and the copper species. This interaction is proposed to play pivotal roles in epoxidation of propylene. As compared with other reported Cu-based catalysts for propylene epoxidation, the present catalyst possesses several distinct features.     

Tuning of the activity and induction period of double metal cyanide catalyzed ring-opening polymerizations of propylene oxide by using ionic liquids

Polymerizations of propylene oxide (PO) have been carried out by using double metal cyanide (DMC) catalyst prepared by reacting ZnCl₂ and K₃[Co(CN)₆] in the presence of tert-butyl alcohol as a complexing agents. The DMC catalyst of the molecular formula, Zn_2.3Cl_1.0[Co(CN)₆]_1.0·2.0 ^tBuOH·1.0H₂O, is characterized by gas sorption measurements, infrared spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. The structure of DMC catalyst with negligible surface area and broadened X-ray diffraction peaks is different from that of Prussian blue analogue, Zn₃[Co(CN)₆]₂·12H₂O of microporous crystalline materials. The PO polymerization behavior is tunable by combining it with various imidazolium based ionic liquids (ILs) as external additives. Thus, (1) they make the zinc-monomer bond faster activated during the initial stage of polymerization, (2) they make the zinc-monomer bond more active, (3) they stabilize the polymerization centers and prevent their decomposition, and (4) they improve important polymer properties such as molecular weight, viscosity and unsaturation level. The maximum rate of polymerization (R_p,max) of DMC catalyst increases from 2587 to 27,222 g-polymer/g-cat h by combining with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (emimCl, [emimCl]/[Zn] = 1.25) at 115 °C. The induction period as the time to reach R_p,max becomes short from 321 min for DMC catalyst to 29 min for DMC/emimCl binary catalyst. The unsaturation value of polyol (0.017 mequiv./g) produced by DMC decreases to 0.005 mequiv./g by simply combining with IL. The molecular weight polyol produced by DMC catalyst increases from M_n = 3700 to more than 6000, and the viscosity of polyol decreases by combining with ILs.